• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Researchers create biosensor by turning spider silk into optical fiber

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
August 2, 2022
in Biology
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

WASHINGTON — Researchers have harnessed the light-guiding properties of spider silk to develop a sensor that can detect and measure small changes in the refractive index of a biological solution, including glucose and other types of sugar solutions. The new light-based sensor might one day be useful for measuring blood sugar and other biochemical analytes.

Biosensor based on spider silk

Credit: Cheng-Yang Liu, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

WASHINGTON — Researchers have harnessed the light-guiding properties of spider silk to develop a sensor that can detect and measure small changes in the refractive index of a biological solution, including glucose and other types of sugar solutions. The new light-based sensor might one day be useful for measuring blood sugar and other biochemical analytes.

“Glucose sensors are crucial to people with diabetes, but these devices tend to be invasive, uncomfortable and not cost-efficient,” said research team leader Cheng-Yang Liu from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. “With spider silk attracting attention for its superior optomechanical properties, we wanted to explore using this biocompatible material to optically detect various sugar concentrations in real-time.”

Liu and colleagues from Taiwan Instrument Research Institute and Taipei Medical University describe their new sensor in the Optica Publishing Group journal Biomedical Optics Express. They show that it can be used to determine concentrations of fructose, sucrose and glucose sugars based on changes in a solution’s refractive index. Spider silk is ideal for this application because it can not only transmit light like an optical fiber but is also very strong and elastic.

“Our new spider silk-based fiber optic sugar sensor is practical, compact, biocompatible, cost-effective and highly sensitive,” said Liu. “With further development, it could lead to better at-home medical monitoring devices and point-of-care diagnostic and testing devices.”

From silk to sensor

To make the sensor, the researchers harvested dragline spider silk from the giant wood spider Nephila pilipes, which is native to Taiwan. They enveloped the silk, which is just 10 microns in diameter, with a biocompatible photocurable resin and cured it to form a smooth protective surface. This created an optical fiber structure that was 100 microns in diameter, with the spider silk acting as the core and the resin as the cladding. They then added a biocompatible nano-layer of gold to enhance the fiber’s sensing abilities.

This process formed a thread-like structure with two ends. To use the fiber to take measurements, the researchers immersed one end in a liquid sample and connected the other end to a light source and a spectrometer. This allowed the researchers to detect the refractive index of the solution and use it to determine the type of sugar and its concentration.

“The spider silk-based sugar sensor is reusable, cost-effective, easy to use and offers real-time detection,” said Liu. “Moreover, because it is compact it could allow access to hard-to-reach areas such as the brain and heart. With further development, it is also hoped that this silk-based fiber optic sugar sensor could be used in implantable medical devices and treatment strategies in biomedical applications.”

Consistent, accurate readings

To test the repeatability and stability of the sensor over time, the researchers used it to measure solutions with unknown concentrations of fructose, sucrose or glucose sugars at room temperature. The measurements were each repeated 10 times at 5-minute intervals.

To quantitatively determine the performance of the silk-based fiber optic sensor, the researchers compared the light intensity spectra produced by the sensor with refractive index measurements acquired with a commercial refractometer. The sensor was able to both identify the type of sugar in the solution and provide a readout of the concentration.

“The measurement precision and sensing sensitivity we achieved suggests that the sensor can accurately estimate the concentration of an unknown sugar solution,” said Liu. “Moreover, the sensing sensitivity for our proposed sensor completely encompasses the range of sugar concentrations found in human blood.”

Before the sensor can be used for real-time measurements in a clinic or home-use device it will be necessary to improve its accuracy and enhance its stability under environmental changes so that it can be used for longer periods of time.

The researchers are also working on software that would allow the sensor to be used with mobile devices for point-of-care readings. They also want to extend the sensor’s functionality so that it could be used to measure different biochemical components in human blood such as lactose and fat.

Paper: H.-P. E, J. A. Ngan Kong, W.-C. Chen, C.-C. Chen, C.-H. Cheng, C.-Y. Liu “Biocompatible spider silk-based metal-dielectric fiber optic sugar sensor,” Biomed. Opt. Express, volume 13, issue 9 (2022).
DOI:10.1354/BOE.462573.

About Biomedical Optics Express

Biomedical Optics Express serves the biomedical optics community with rapid, open-access, peer-reviewed papers related to optics, photonics and imaging in biomedicine. The journal scope encompasses fundamental research, technology development, biomedical studies and clinical applications. It is published monthly by Optica Publishing Group and edited by Ruikang (Ricky) Wang, University of Washington, USA. For more information, visit Biomedical Optics Express.

About Optica Publishing Group (formerly OSA)

Optica Publishing Group is a division of the society, Optica (formerly OSA), Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide. It publishes the largest collection of peer-reviewed and most-cited content in optics and photonics, including 18 prestigious journals, the society’s flagship member magazine, and papers and videos from more than 835 conferences. With over 400,000 journal articles, conference papers and videos to search, discover and access, our publications portfolio represents the full range of research in the field from around the globe.



Journal

Biomedical Optics Express

DOI

10.1354/BOE.462573.

Article Title

Biocompatible spider silk-based metal-dielectric fiber optic sugar sensor

Article Publication Date

2-Aug-2022

Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

Schematic view of Wnt signaling in heart tissue.

Future medical applications in drug design

August 9, 2022
Image 1

Robot helps reveal how ants pass on knowledge

August 9, 2022

The walk of Japanese children develops differently from children in other countries

August 9, 2022

Aldosterone linked to increased risk of chronic kidney disease progression and end-stage kidney disease

August 9, 2022

POPULAR NEWS

  • Picture of the horse specimen.

    Ancient DNA clarifies the early history of American colonial horses

    56 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14
  • The pair of Orcas deterring Great White Sharks – by ripping open their torsos for livers

    66 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 17
  • Ill-fated ‘Into the Wild’ adventurer was victim of unfortunate timing, Oregon State study suggests

    39 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Skin: An additional tool for the versatile elephant trunk

    38 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 10

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

WeaponryVehiclesWeather/StormsUrogenital SystemZoology/Veterinary ScienceVirusVirologyUrbanizationUniversity of WashingtonVaccineVaccinesViolence/Criminals

Recent Posts

  • Sexual dysfunction high among women with lung cancer
  • Vancouver researchers suggest air pollution be included as risk factor for patients with lung cancer and have never smoked
  • Association Between KRAS/STK11/KEAP1 Mutations and Outcomes in POSEIDON: Durvalumab ± Tremelimumab + Chemotherapy in mNSCLC
  • Informed consent forms for lung cancer clinical trials may be a barrier to informed trial participation
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In