Low-Cost High-Sensitivity Fluorescence Sensor Technology

该项目需要利用金属薄膜光学效应，为生物传感应用提供显著增强的发射强度。检测的初始目标物种是来自小鼠杂交瘤系的免疫球蛋白和与细胞凋亡（细胞程序性死亡）相关的RNA。已经进行了重要的初步表征工作，令人信服地证明了增强激发，表面选择性荧光发射增强以及激发和发射光的空间分辨率的机会。通过肉眼检测到一层绿色荧光蛋白，这是初步数据，被视为一项令人印象深刻的成就。该团队不希望止步于仅仅提高对潜在光学现象的理解。他们还将开发一个原型设备，作为商业化产品的基础。另一个积极的方面是，该传感装置具有广泛的应用范围，从检测生物恐怖主义制剂到癌症研究。此外，研究人员还提出了一个强有力的理由，即构建基础研究，使最终设备的成本更低。因此，这项工作的净科学和技术影响将既广泛又高。研究生和本科生都将接触到不同的科学和工程学科，这将有利于他们的发展，也有利于工程人力资源的发展。

Rao0517785This project entails harnessing a metallic thin-film optical effect that offers significantly enhanced emission intensities for use in biosensing applications. Initial target species for detection are an immunoglobin from a murine hybridoma line and the RNA associated with apoptosis (cell-programmed death). Significant initial characterization work has been performed that convincingly demonstrates the opportunity for enhanced excitation, surface-selective fluorescence emission enhancement, and spatial resolution of excitation and emission light. The detection of a monolayer of green fluorescent protein by the naked eye, which is presented as preliminary data, is viewed as an impressive accomplishment.The team aspires to not stop with just improving the understanding of the underlying optical phenomena. They will also develop a prototype device that could be the basis for a commercialized product. Another positive aspect is the sensing device has a multitude of applications ranging for detecting bioterrorism agents to cancer research. Additionally, the investigators have made a strong case for structuring the basic research such that the ultimate device would be low cost. Thus, the net scientific and technological impact of this work will be both wide and high. Both graduate and undergraduate students will receive exposure to different scientific and engineering disciplines, which will benefit their development as well as the development of human resources in engineering.