Abstract
The development of a sensing platform based on white light reflectance spectroscopy (WLRS) is presented. The evolution of the system, from polymer film characterization and sensing of volatile organic compounds to biosensor for the label-free determination of either high (e.g., proteins) or low molecular weight analytes (e.g., pesticides), is described. At the same time, the passage from single to multi-analyte determinations, and from a laboratory prototype set-up to a compact device appropriate for on-site determination, is outlined. The improvements made on both the sensor and the optical set-up, and the concomitant advances in the analytical characteristics and the robustness of the assays performed with the different layouts, are also presented. Finally, the future perspectives of the system, aiming for the creation of a standalone instrument to be used by non-experts, will be discussed.
Highlights
Amongst the different types of sensors that can be incorporated to microfluidic systems in order to build up miniaturized systems for Point of Care (PoC) applications, the optical ones present the advantages of direct and multiplex analysis, due to lack of strong interference from the sample matrix that is the major limitation of electrochemical sensors [1,2,3]
The first application of white light reflectance spectroscopy (WLRS) as a sensing platform was for the quantitative detection of volatile organic compounds (VOC) through monitoring of polymeric films thickness changes due to exposure to VOCs [26,27,28]
Those studies proved the indisputable validity of the system developed to characterize polymer film7,properties, a feature that was further exploited in the frame of WLRS methodology
Summary
Amongst the different types of sensors that can be incorporated to microfluidic systems in order to build up miniaturized systems for Point of Care (PoC) applications, the optical ones present the advantages of direct and multiplex analysis, due to lack of strong interference from the sample matrix that is the major limitation of electrochemical sensors [1,2,3]. Despite the fact that refractometric optical sensors are the most abundant, and those that have reached the higher commercialization level, they can “sense” phenomena that take place only within the evanescent field, and with an efficiency that is reduced as the layer thickness increases. The analytical performance is only one of the parameters that could facilitate the acceptance of a new sensing system and its application outside the laboratory environment where it has been developed To this end, the simplicity of the measurement procedure plays an important role (ideally the user should only load the sample), the cost effectiveness both in terms of the non-disposable instrumentation required and the consumables, and the ability to work with complex matrices [5]. We report the advancements of the specific sensing platform regarding its application to different fields as well as its evolution from a lab prototype to a compact device for use at the Point-of-Care
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