Ultrahigh sensitivity slot-waveguide biosensor on a highly integrated chip for simultaneous diagnosis of multiple diseases

SABIO is a multidisciplinary project involving the emerging fields of micro-nano technology, photonics, fluidics and bio-chemistry, targeting a contribution to the development of intelligent diagnostic equipment through the demonstration of a compact polymer based and silicon-based CMOS-compatible micro-nano system. It integrates optical biosensors for label-free biomolecular recognition based on a novel photonic structure named slot-waveguide with immobilised biomolecular receptors on its surface. The slot-waveguides provide high optical intensity in a subwavelength-size low refractive index region (slot-region) sandwiched between two high refractive index strips (rails) [Almeida, V., et al., 2004] leading to an enhanced interaction between the optical probe and biomolecular complexes (antibody-antigen). As such a biosensor is predicted to exhibit a surface concentration detection-limit lower than 1 pg/mm2, state-of-the-art in label-free integrated optical biosensors, as well as the possibility of multiplexed assay, which, together with reduced reaction volumes, leads to the ability to perform rapid multi-analyte sensing and comprehensive tests. This offers the further advantageous possibility of assaying several parameters simultaneously and consequently, statistical analysis of these results can potentially increase the reliability and reduce the measurement uncertainty of a diagnostic over single-parameter assays. In addition, the SABIO micro-nano system device applied to its novel protein-based diagnostic technology has the potential to be fast and easy to use, making routine screening or monitoring of diseases more cost-effective.