The Concept of Miniaturized Fiber-Optic Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensor for In Situ Viral Detection

Abstract

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique has been incorporated in advancing numerous fields such as biology, biochemistry, molecular interactions monitoring, and medical diagnostics. For the past thirty years, researchers utilized SPR biosensing for rapid detection of viral infection. This paper demonstrates the concept of miniaturization of SPR for in-situ early screening of viral infection. The fundamental principles, including from the total internal reflection, evanescent wave, surface plasmons and surface plasmon oscillations are summarized and highlighted. The integration of miniaturized fiber-optic SPR biosensor with mobile phone device suitable for future in-situ screening. The sensor was fashioned by a light-guiding silica capillary coated with gold (Au) thin film as a sensing layer. The flash of the phone act as the light source, and the camera act as the detector where it captures change of light intensity. The captured images are then analyzed using a simple software application installed on the phone. The potential of an advanced miniaturized system as an alert system for viral recognition in public areas was also overviewed in this paper. By implementing the real-time alert system of viral infection in public places, the management of disease transmission could be improved.