Nov 30 2010
The US researchers have developed a novel biosensor to identify harmful viruses such as Marburg and Ebola. The researchers used plasmonic nanohole arrays to develop the sensor. The biosensor can be used in airports and places where man-made or natural outbreaks can occur.
The biosensor uses arrays of apertures of about 200 – 350 nm diameter placed over metallic films that strongly transmits light at particular wavelengths. Or else, the sensor uses plasmonic nanohole arrays to find intact viruses.
When the sample solution with the live virus binds to the surface of the sensor, there is a change in the refractive index of the sensor. This causes a detectable shift to occur in the light’s resonance frequency, which is transmitted through nanoholes. The shift is measured to find the presence of virus. The device can also measure the intensity of the infection that can be caused by the virus.
At present, the researchers are in the process of developing a more portable version of the device with the help of microfluidic technology.
Source: http://www.bu.edu/