"Multispectral Plasmonic Interferometry: A New Tool for High-throughput, Real-time Detection of Cytokines"

利用等离子体和纳米光子学的最新进展，本研究的目的是开发一种密集的平面纳米等离子体干涉仪阵列，用于实时、灵敏、多路和高通量表征多种细胞因子释放，例如在多发创伤患者中。所提出的概念的新颖之处是一种新的设计，用于多波长等离子干涉测量，与细胞因子特异性的表面化学相结合，以提供所需的选择性。结果将是一个大而密集的等离子体干涉仪阵列，在保留最终灵敏度的同时，可以扩展当前SPR技术的能力，包括宽带波长检测，用于特定分析物指纹识别，以及通过在单个芯片中集成每平方厘米超过一百万个等效SPR传感器的高通量表征。除了在纳米尺度上更好地理解光-物质相互作用之外，拟议的研究将极大地影响与人类健康相关的几种分析和测定的通量能力，目前在生命科学中使用，并作为一种替代的高通量方案，以更快地发现药物，以及更有效地识别和筛选新疗法。拟议的研究还将在国家需要的领域为学生提供研究生水平的培训，特别注意在科学和工程领域吸引和留住代表性不足的少数民族和妇女。除了对当地学校进行教育外，pi还将招募一名高中暑期学生，使用提出的等离子干涉测量方法进行传感实验。

Pacifici1159255Leveraging recent progress in plasmonics and nanophotonics, the aim of the proposed research is to develop a dense, planar array of nanoscale plasmonic interferometers for real-time, sensitive, multiplexed, and high-throughput characterization of a variety of cytokines released, e.g., in polytrauma patients. The novelty of the concept being proposed is a new design for multi-wavelength plasmonic interferometry coupled to surface chemistries that are specific to cytokines in order to provide the required selectivity. The result will be a large, dense array of plasmonic interferometers that, while retaining the ultimate sensitivity, could expand the capabilities of current SPR techniques to include broad-band wavelength detection, for specific analyte fingerprinting, and high-throughput characterization, via integration of more than one million SPR-equivalent sensors per square centimeter in a single chip. In addition to a better understanding of light-matter interaction at the nanoscale, the proposed research will dramatically impact the throughput capabilities of several analyses and assays relevant to human health and currently used in the life sciences, and serve as an alternative high-throughput scheme for faster drug discovery, as well as more efficient identification and screening of novel therapies. The proposed research will also provide graduate-level training of students in areas of national need, with particular attention to attracting and retaining underrepresented minorities and women in science and engineering. In addition to the education outreach to local schools, the PIs will recruit a high school summer student to perform sensing experiments using the proposed plasmonic interferometry approach.