(Invited) Advances in NIR Fluorescent Swnt Sensors for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Our laboratory at MIT has been interested in how carbon nanosensors, such as those based on carbon nanotubes and graphene, can be applied to problems in precision medicine. Specifically, we are working on nIR fluorescent nanosensors based on single walled carbon nanotubes capable of implantation in-vivo for the continuous, real time, persistent monitoring of a wide range of important analytes in the human body. Precision medicine motivates the need for specific measurements and analysis of data on individuals within a complex human population. To address the challenge of adapting sensor platforms to different analytes of interest to stable, molecular recognition interfaces, we invented at MIT a technique called Corona Phase Molecular Recognition (CoPhMoRe) whereby synthetic, non-biological recognition sites are created from the three-dimensional structure of an adsorbed heteropolymer, selected from a combinatorial library once adsorbed to a nIR fluorescent single walled carbon nanotube. This platform is well suited for precision medicine due to the long term photostability of the CNT, and the label free nature of the detection, as well as lack of photobleaching. Our carbon nanotube sensors have been developed for a variety of important biomolecules such as, radical oxygen species, radical nitrogen species, carbohydrates such as glucose, and even proteins such as fibrinogen and insulin. The ability to implant a carbon nanotube sensor and measure the concentration of an analyte continuously and in real time will give physicians the data they need to assess the needs of individual patients.