Numerical Simulation of Surface Plasmon Resonance Optical Fiber Biosensor Enhanced by Using Alloys for Medical...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optoelectronics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Tuberculosis (TB) is a significant global health threat requiring early and accurate diagnosis.
• Lower blood plasma refractive index is observed in individuals with tuberculosis.
• Fiber optic sensors offer potential for sensitive and rapid detection of biological analytes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the performance of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based fiber optic sensor for detecting tuberculosis via blood plasma analysis.
• To optimize the sensor structure, including metal/oxide/graphene layers and fiber core diameter, for enhanced detection capabilities.
• To evaluate the impact of alloy composition on sensor performance for improved tuberculosis diagnosis.

Main Methods:

• Simulations were conducted using the matrix method in Wolfram Mathematica.
• The sensor performance was evaluated for metal/oxide/graphene structures with varying fiber optic core diameters (300, 600, 940 µm).
• Blood plasma was used as the sensing medium to assess refractive index changes.

Main Results:

• The aluminum/lutetium oxide/graphene structure demonstrated the highest quality factor at a 940 µm fiber core diameter.
• Investigating alloys revealed that an aluminum/copper alloy (30/70 ratio) with lutetium oxide and graphene yielded the best sensor quality.
• The optimized sensor design shows enhanced sensitivity and detection accuracy for tuberculosis indicators.

Conclusions:

• The developed SPR fiber optic sensor, particularly the aluminum/copper alloy-lutetium oxide-graphene configuration, shows significant potential for early and accurate tuberculosis diagnosis.
• Further research into alloy optimization can lead to improved diagnostic tools for infectious diseases.
• This approach offers a promising non-invasive method for detecting changes in blood plasma indicative of tuberculosis.