Real-time full-spectral imaging and affinity measurements from 50 microfluidic channels using nanohole surface plasmon resonance

Emerging Designs and Applications for Biomembrane Biosensors

Nature has inspired the development of biomimetic membrane sensors in which the functionalities of biological molecules, such as proteins and lipids, are harnessed for sensing applications. This review provides an overview of the recent developments for biomembrane sensors compatible with either bulk or planar sensing applications, namely using lipid vesicles or supported lipid bilayers, respectively. We first describe the individual components required for these sensing platforms and the design principles that are considered when constructing them, and we segue into recent applications being implemented across multiple fields. Our goal for this review is to illustrate the versatility of nature's biomembrane toolbox and simultaneously highlight how biosensor platforms can be enhanced by harnessing it.

Aluminum-based plasmonic metasurface for computational spectrometry with full coverage of visible light

Reconstructive spectrometers/spectral cameras have immense potential for portable applications in various fields, including environmental monitoring, biomedical research and diagnostics, and agriculture and food safety. However, the performance of these spectrometers/spectral cameras is severely limited by the operational bandwidth, spectral diversity, and angle sensitivity of the spectral modulation devices. In this work, we propose a compact spectrometer based on plasmonic metasurfaces that operate across the entire visible wavelength range, covering wavelengths from 400 to 750 nm. We experimentally demonstrate the effective spectral reconstruction achieved by the designed metasurface spectrometer, exhibiting angle tolerance to the incident light within the range of ± 12°. Our results highlight the potential for constructing broadband, large field-of-view hyperspectral cameras.

Label-free optical biosensing: going beyond the limits

Label-free optical biosensing holds great promise for a variety of applications in biomedical diagnostics, environmental and food safety, and security. It is already used as a key tool in the investigation of biomolecular binding events and reaction constants in real time and offers further potential additional functionalities and low-cost designs. However, the sensitivity of this technology does not match the routinely used but expensive and slow labelling methods. Therefore, label-free optical biosensing remains predominantly a research tool. Here we discuss how one can go beyond the limits of detection provided by standard optical biosensing platforms and achieve a sensitivity of label-free biosensing that is superior to labelling methods. To this end we review newly emerging optical implementations that overcome current sensitivity barriers by employing novel structural architectures, artificial materials (metamaterials and hetero-metastructures) and using phase of light as a sensing parameter. Furthermore, we elucidate the mechanism of plasmonic phase biosensing and review hyper-sensitive transducers, which can achieve detection limits at the single molecule level (less than 1 fg mm-2) and make it possible to detect analytes at several orders of magnitude lower concentrations than so far reported in literature. We finally discuss newly emerging layouts based on dielectric nanomaterials, bound states in continuum, and exceptional points.

Application of nanoplasmonic biosensors based on nanoarrays in biological and chemical detection

Technological innovation, cost effectiveness, and miniaturization are key factors that determine the commercial adaptability and sustainability of sensing platforms. Nanoplasmonic biosensors based on nanocup or nanohole arrays are attractive for the development of various miniaturized devices for clinical diagnostics, health management, and environmental monitoring. In this review, we discuss the latest trends in the engineering and development of nanoplasmonic sensors as biodiagnostic tools for the highly sensitive detection of chemical and biological analytes. We focused on studies that have explored flexible nanosurface plasmon resonance systems using a sample and scalable detection approach in an effort to highlight multiplexed measurements and portable point-of-care applications.

Recent advances in surface plasmon resonance imaging and biological applications

Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging (SPRI) is a robust technique for visualizing refractive index changes, which enables researchers to observe interactions between nanoscale objects in an imaging manner. In the past period, scholars have been attracted by the Prism-Coupled and Non-prism Coupled configurations of SPRI and have published numerous experimental results. This review describes the principle of SPRI and discusses recent developments in Prism-Coupled and Non-prism Coupled SPRI techniques in detail, respectively. And then, major advances in biological applications of SPRI are reviewed, including four sub-fields (cells, viruses, bacteria, exosomes, and biomolecules). The purpose is to briefly summarize the recent advances of SPRI and provide an outlook on the development of SPRI in various fields.

Continuous monitoring of molecular biomarkers in microfluidic devices

The ability to monitor molecular targets is crucial in fields ranging from healthcare to industrial processing to environmental protection. Devices employing biomolecules to achieve this goal are called biosensors. Over the last half century researchers have developed dozens of different biosensor approaches. In this chapter we analyze recent advances in the biosensing field aiming at adapting these to the problem of continuous molecular monitoring in complex sample streams, and how the merging of these sensors with lab-on-a-chip technologies would be beneficial to both. To do so we discuss (1) the components that comprise a biosensor, (2) the challenges associated with continuous molecular monitoring in complex sample streams, (3) how different sensing strategies deal with (or fail to deal with) these challenges, and (4) the implementation of these technologies into lab-on-a-chip architectures.

Advances and applications of nanophotonic biosensors

Nanophotonic devices, which control light in subwavelength volumes and enhance light-matter interactions, have opened up exciting prospects for biosensing. Numerous nanophotonic biosensors have emerged to address the limitations of the current bioanalytical methods in terms of sensitivity, throughput, ease-of-use and miniaturization. In this Review, we provide an overview of the recent developments of label-free nanophotonic biosensors using evanescent-field-based sensing with plasmon resonances in metals and Mie resonances in dielectrics. We highlight the prospects of achieving an improved sensor performance and added functionalities by leveraging nanostructures and on-chip and optoelectronic integration, as well as microfluidics, biochemistry and data science toolkits. We also discuss open challenges in nanophotonic biosensing, such as reducing the overall cost and handling of complex biological samples, and provide an outlook for future opportunities to improve these technologies and thereby increase their impact in terms of improving health and safety.

Fibre-Optic Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensor for Monoclonal Antibody Titer Quantification

An extraordinary optical transmission fibre-optic surface plasmon resonance biosensing platform was engineered to improve its portability and sensitivity, and was applied to monitor the concentrations of monoclonal antibodies (Mabs). By refining the fabricating procedure and changing the material of the flow cell and the components of the optical fibre, the biosensor is portable and robust to external interference. After the implementation of an effective template cleaning procedure and precise control during the fabrication process, a consistent sensitivity of 509 ± 5 nm per refractive index unit (nm/RIU) was achieved. The biosensor can detect the Mab with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.44 µg/mL. The results show that the biosensor is a potential tool for the rapid quantification of Mab titers. The biosensor can be regenerated at least 10 times with 10 mM glycine (pH = 2.5), and consistent signal changes were obtained after regeneration. Moreover, the employment of a spacer arm SM(PEG)2, used for immobilising protein A onto the gold film, was demonstrated to be unable to improve the detecting sensitivity; thus, a simple procedure without the spacer arm could be used to prepare the protein A-based biosensor. Our results demonstrate that the fibre-optic surface plasmon resonance biosensor is competent for the real-time and on-line monitoring of antibody titers in the future as a process analytical technologies (PATs) tool for bioprocess developments and the manufacture of therapeutic antibodies.

Microfluidics-Based Plasmonic Biosensing System Based on Patterned Plasmonic Nanostructure Arrays

This review aims to summarize the recent advances and progress of plasmonic biosensors based on patterned plasmonic nanostructure arrays that are integrated with microfluidic chips for various biomedical detection applications. The plasmonic biosensors have made rapid progress in miniaturization sensors with greatly enhanced performance through the continuous advances in plasmon resonance techniques such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and localized SPR (LSPR)-based refractive index sensing, SPR imaging (SPRi), and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Meanwhile, microfluidic integration promotes multiplexing opportunities for the plasmonic biosensors in the simultaneous detection of multiple analytes. Particularly, different types of microfluidic-integrated plasmonic biosensor systems based on versatile patterned plasmonic nanostructured arrays were reviewed comprehensively, including their methods and relevant typical works. The microfluidics-based plasmonic biosensors provide a high-throughput platform for the biochemical molecular analysis with the advantages such as ultra-high sensitivity, label-free, and real time performance; thus, they continue to benefit the existing and emerging applications of biomedical studies, chemical analyses, and point-of-care diagnostics.

Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Tape: A Versatile Material Platform for Optical Sensors

Pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes are a versatile, safe and easy-to-use solution for fastening, sealing, masking, or joining. They are widely employed in daily life, from domestic use to industrial applications in sectors such as construction and the automotive industry. In recent years, PSA tapes have found a place in the field of micro- and nanotechnology, particularly in contact transfer techniques where they can be used as either sacrificial layers or flexible substrates. As a consequence, various optical sensing configurations based on PSA tapes have been developed. In this paper, recent achievements related to the use of PSA tapes as functional and integral parts of optical sensors are reviewed. These include refractive index sensors, optomechanical sensors and vapor sensors.

Real-Time Sensing with Patterned Plasmonic Substrates and a Compact Imager Chip

Optical sensing is an important research field due to its proven ability to be extremely sensitive, nondestructive, and applicable to sensing a wide range of chemical, thermal, electric, or magnetic phenomena. Beyond traditional optical sensors that often rely on bulky setups, plasmonic nanostructures can offer many advantages based on their sensitivity, compact form, cost-effectiveness, multiplexing compatibility, and compatibility with many standard semiconductor nanofabrication techniques. In particular, plasmon-enhanced optical transmission through arrays of nanostructured holes has led to the development of a new generation of optical sensors. In this chapter we present a simple fabrication technique to use plasmonic nanostructures as compact sensors. We position the nanohole array, an LED illumination source, and a spacer layer directly on top of a standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) imager chip. This setup is a viable sensor platform in both liquid and gas environments. These devices could operate as low-cost sensors for environmental monitoring, security, food safety, or monitoring small-molecule binding to extract affinity information and binding constants.

Ultrahigh-Sensitivity Sandwiched Plasmon Ruler for Label-Free Clinical Diagnosis

Optical biosensors, especially those based on plasmonic structures, have emerged recently as a potential tool for disease diagnostics. Plasmonic biosensors have demonstrated impressive benefits for the label-free detection of trace biomarkers in human serum. However, widespread applications of these technologies are hindered because of their insufficient sensitivity, their relatively complex chemical immobilization processes, and the use of prism couplers. Accordingly, a sandwiched plasmon ruler (SW-PR) based on a Au nanohole array with ultrahigh sensitivity arising from the plasmonic coupling effect is developed. Highly confined surface charges caused by Bloch wave surface plasmon polarizations substantially increase the coupling efficiency. This platform exhibits thickness sensitivity as high as 61 nm nm^-1 and can detect at least 200 000-fold lower analyte concentrations than a nanowell sensing platform with the same wavelength shift. Additionally, the sandwiched plasmonic biosensor allows precise and label-free testing of clinical biomarkers, namely C-reactive protein and procalcitonin, in patient serum samples without requiring a sophisticated prism coupler, extra antibodies, or a chemical immobilization technique. This study yields new insight into the structural design of plasmon rulers and will open exciting avenues for disease diagnosis and therapy follow-up at the point-of-care.

Plasmonic Sensing on Symmetric Nanohole Arrays Supporting High-Q Hybrid Modes and Reflection Geometry

Refractometric sensors utilizing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) should satisfy a series of performance metrics, bulk sensitivity, thin-film sensitivity, refractive-index resolution, and high-Q-factor resonance, as well as practical requirements such as manufacturability and the ability to separate optical and fluidic paths via reflection-mode sensing. While many geometries such as nanohole, nanoslit, and nanoparticles have been employed, it is nontrivial to engineer nanostructures to satisfy all of the aforementioned requirements. We combine gold nanohole arrays with a water-index-matched Cytop film to demonstrate reflection-mode, high-Q-factor (Q_exp = 143) symmetric plasmonic sensor architecture. Using template stripping with a Cytop film, we can replicate a large number of index-symmetric nanohole arrays, which support sharp plasmonic resonances that can be probed by light reflected from their backside with a high extinction amplitude. The reflection geometry separates the optical and microfluidic paths without sacrificing sensor performance as is the case of standard (index-asymmetric) nanohole arrays. Furthermore, plasmon hybridization caused by the array refractive-index symmetry enables dual-mode detection that allows distinction of refractive-index changes occurring at different distances from the surface, making it possible to identify SPR response from differently sized particles or to distinguish binding events near the surface from bulk index changes. Due to the unique combination of a dual-mode reflection-configuration sensing, high-Q plasmonic modes, and template-stripping nanofabrication, this platform can extend the utility of nanohole SPR for sensing applications involving biomolecules, polymers, nanovesicles, and biomembranes.

Optical Interrogation Techniques for Nanophotonic Biochemical Sensors

The manipulation of light via nanoengineered surfaces has excited the optical community in the past few decades. Among the many applications enabled by nanophotonic devices, sensing has stood out due to their capability of identifying miniscule refractive index changes. In particular, when free-space propagating light effectively couples into subwavelength volumes created by nanostructures, the strongly-localized near-fields can enhance light’s interaction with matter at the nanoscale. As a result, nanophotonic sensors can non-destructively detect chemical species in real-time without the need of exogenous labels. The impact of such nanophotonic devices on biochemical sensor development became evident as the ever-growing research efforts in the field started addressing many critical needs in biomedical sciences, such as low-cost analytical platforms, simple quantitative bioassays, time-resolved sensing, rapid and multiplexed detection, single-molecule analytics, among others. In this review, the optical transduction methods used to interrogate optical resonances of nanophotonic sensors will be highlighted. Specifically, the optical methodologies used thus far will be evaluated based on their capability of addressing key requirements of the future sensor technologies, including miniaturization, multiplexing, spatial and temporal resolution, cost and sensitivity.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Fluid-Supported Lipid Bilayers

Supported lipid bilayers are essential model systems for studying biological membranes and for membrane-based sensor development. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) stands to add considerably to our understanding of the dynamics and interactions of these systems through direct chemical information. Despite this potential, SERS of lipid bilayers is not routinely achieved. Here, we carried out the first measurements of a solid-supported lipid bilayer on a SERS-active substrate and characterized the bilayer using SERS, atomic force microscopy, surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). The creation of a fluid, SERS-active supported lipid bilayer was accomplished through use of a novel silica-coated silver film-over-nanosphere substrate. These substrates offer a powerful new platform to couple common surface techniques that are challenging on the nanoscale, for example, ellipsometry and FRAP, with SERS for studying biological membranes and their dynamics.

Gold nanoholes fabricated by colloidal lithography: novel insights into nanofabrication, short-range correlation and optical properties

Colloidal lithography is widely used as a low cost and large-area deposition approach, alternative to the conventional small-area expensive lithographic techniques, for the fabrication of short-range ordered sub-wavelength metallic nanostructures. This paper contributes to the understanding of the impact of the fabrication protocol of a colloidal mask on the optical and sensing properties of short range-ordered nanohole (NH) distributions fabricated by colloidal lithography in optically thin (20 nm thick) gold films. We consider polystyrene nanospheres (PS-NSPs) with a nominal diameter of 80 nm, electrostatically adsorbed from a salt-free colloidal solution onto a polydiallyldimethylammonium (PDDA) countercharged monolayer. By avoiding the conventional polyelectrolyte multilayer and based on the interplay between the deposition times of both PDDA and PS-NSPs, we demonstrate effective simplification of the commonly applied deposition protocol and effective tuning of the NH-to-NH spacing (dNN) with negligible agglomeration. Comparison with NH samples prepared by salt-containing colloidal solutions points out the negative impact of salt addition on the optical properties. The effective tuning of dNN obtained by our protocol demonstrates highly correlated disorder under unsaturated adsorption and allows a discussion on the analogies of the optical response between long- and short- range ordered NH systems, which is a still debated topic. By Fast Fourier Transform of autocorrelation images of scanning electron microscopy micrographs we demonstrate quantitatively, rather than in principle, the correspondence between an inherent ordering length-scale and dNN. As optical transducers for detecting refractive index changes, our samples exhibit significant bulk sensitivity (∼309 nm RIU-1) in the framework of short range ordered NH systems.

Recent Advances in Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging Sensors

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is an important tool widely used for studying binding kinetics between biomolecular species. The SPR approach offers unique advantages in light of its real-time and label-free sensing capabilities. Until now, nearly all established SPR instrumentation schemes are based on single- or several-channel configurations. With the emergence of drug screening and investigation of biomolecular interactions on a massive scale these days for finding more effective treatments of diseases, there is a growing demand for the development of high-throughput 2-D SPR sensor arrays based on imaging. The so-called SPR imaging (SPRi) approach has been explored intensively in recent years. This review aims to provide an up-to-date and concise summary of recent advances in SPRi. The specific focuses are on practical instrumentation designs and their respective biosensing applications in relation to molecular sensing, healthcare testing, and environmental screening.

Antibody-Antigen Interaction Dynamics Revealed by Analysis of Single-Molecule Equilibrium Fluctuations on Individual Plasmonic Nanoparticle Biosensors

Antibody-antigen interactions are complex events central to immune response, in vivo and in vitro diagnostics, and development of therapeutic substances. We developed an ultrastable single-molecule localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensing platform optimized for studying antibody-antigen interaction kinetics over very long time scales. The setup allowed us to perform equilibrium fluctuations analysis of the PEG/anti-PEG interaction. By time and frequency domain analysis, we demonstrate that reversible adsorption of monovalently bound anti-PEG antibodies is the dominant factor affecting the LSPR fluctuations. The results suggest that equilibrium fluctuation analysis can be an alternative to established methods for determination of interaction rates. In particular, the methodology is suited to analyze molecular systems whose properties change during the initial interaction phases, for example, due to mass transport limitations or, as demonstrated here, because the effective association rate constant varies with surface concentration of adsorbed molecules.

Integrated Nanogap Platform for Sub-Volt Dielectrophoretic Trapping and Real-Time Raman Imaging of Biological Nanoparticles

A rapid, label-free, and broadly applicable chemical analysis platform for nanovesicles and subcellular components is highly desirable for diagnostic assays. We demonstrate an integrated nanogap plasmonic sensing platform that combines subvolt dielectrophoresis (DEP) trapping, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), and a lineated illumination scheme for real-time, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) imaging of biological nanoparticles. Our system is capable of isolating suspended sub-100 nm vesicles and imaging the Raman spectra of their cargo within seconds, 100 times faster than conventional point-scan Raman systems. Bare AuNPs are spiked into solution and simultaneously trapped with the nanovesicles along the gap to boost local optical fields. In addition, our platform offers simultaneous and delay-free spatial and temporal multiplexing functionality. These nanogap devices can be mass-produced via atomic layer lithography and provide a practical platform for high-speed SERS analysis of biological nanoparticles.

Ultra-sensitive detection by metal nanoparticles-mediated enhanced SPR biosensors

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR), as an optical technique, has widely been used for the detection of biomarkers. Various investigations have been conducted to address the impacts of SPR on the kinetics of biological interactions between the ligand and its cognate bio-element. Up until now, different biofunctionalized metal nanoparticles (NPs) have been used for the ultrasensitive detection of biomarkers in the enhanced SPR. The enhancement of plasmonic properties and refractive index by means of metal NPs in SPR-based biosensors have significantly improved the diagnosis and monitoring of molecular markers in different disesaes including malignancies. In all the enhanced SPR systems utilized for the direct/sandwich assay, each NP is covalently modified with the analyte molecules like antibody (Ab) or a nucleic acid such as DNA/RNA aptamer (Ap) capable of interaction with the related biomarker(s). The increasing of density near the gold surface and plasmonic coupling of gold film and NPs can provide a large shift in the refractive index enhancing the plasmonic resonance because the SPR response unit is sensitive to alteration of the refractive index and the mass shifting onto the chip surface. In this study, we review the potential applications of two major NPs for enhancing the SPR signals for the detection of molecular biomarkers, including gold and magnetic NPs.

Spectral Imaging Analysis for Ultrasensitive Biomolecular Detection Using Gold-Capped Nanowire Arrays

A spectral integration combined with a threshold method for the analysis of spectral scanning surface plasmon resonance (SPR) images can significantly increase signal recognition at low concentration of antibody solution. The 12-well SPR sensing plates consisted of gold-capped nanowire arrays with 500-nm period, 80-nm linewidth and 50-nm gold thickness which were used for generating multiple SPR images. A threshold method is introduced to eliminate background noises in spectral scanning images. Combining spectral integration and the threshold method, the detection limit of antibody concentration was 1.23 ng/mL. Using multiple-well SPR sensing plates and the proposed analytical method, multiple kinetic responses with spectral and spatial information on different sensing areas can be sensitively measured.

Label-Free Optofluidic Nanobiosensor Enables Real-Time Analysis of Single-Cell Cytokine Secretion

Single-cell analysis of cytokine secretion is essential to understand the heterogeneity of cellular functionalities and develop novel therapies for multiple diseases. Unraveling the dynamic secretion process at single-cell resolution reveals the real-time functional status of individual cells. Fluorescent and colorimetric-based methodologies require tedious molecular labeling that brings inevitable interferences with cell integrity and compromises the temporal resolution. An innovative label-free optofluidic nanoplasmonic biosensor is introduced for single-cell analysis in real time. The nanobiosensor incorporates a novel design of a multifunctional microfluidic system with small volume microchamber and regulation channels for reliable monitoring of cytokine secretion from individual cells for hours. Different interleukin-2 secretion profiles are detected and distinguished from single lymphoma cells. The sensor configuration combined with optical spectroscopic imaging further allows us to determine the spatial single-cell secretion fingerprints in real time. This new biosensor system is anticipated to be a powerful tool to characterize single-cell signaling for basic and clinical research.

Exploring Molecular-Biomembrane Interactions with Surface Plasmon Resonance and Dual Polarization Interferometry Technology: Expanding the Spotlight onto Biomembrane Structure

The molecular analysis of biomolecular-membrane interactions is central to understanding most cellular systems but has emerged as a complex technical challenge given the complexities of membrane structure and composition across all living cells. We present a review of the application of surface plasmon resonance and dual polarization interferometry-based biosensors to the study of biomembrane-based systems using both planar mono- or bilayers or liposomes. We first describe the optical principals and instrumentation of surface plasmon resonance, including both linear and extraordinary transmission modes and dual polarization interferometry. We then describe the wide range of model membrane systems that have been developed for deposition on the chips surfaces that include planar, polymer cushioned, tethered bilayers, and liposomes. This is followed by a description of the different chemical immobilization or physisorption techniques. The application of this broad range of engineered membrane surfaces to biomolecular-membrane interactions is then overviewed and how the information obtained using these techniques enhance our molecular understanding of membrane-mediated peptide and protein function. We first discuss experiments where SPR alone has been used to characterize membrane binding and describe how these studies yielded novel insight into the molecular events associated with membrane interactions and how they provided a significant impetus to more recent studies that focus on coincident membrane structure changes during binding of peptides and proteins. We then discuss the emerging limitations of not monitoring the effects on membrane structure and how SPR data can be combined with DPI to provide significant new information on how a membrane responds to the binding of peptides and proteins.

Nanoplasmonic sensors for biointerfacial science

In recent years, nanoplasmonic sensors have become widely used for the label-free detection of biomolecules across medical, biotechnology, and environmental science applications. To date, many nanoplasmonic sensing strategies have been developed with outstanding measurement capabilities, enabling detection down to the single-molecule level. One of the most promising directions has been surface-based nanoplasmonic sensors, and the potential of such technologies is still emerging. Going beyond detection, surface-based nanoplasmonic sensors open the door to enhanced, quantitative measurement capabilities across the biointerfacial sciences by taking advantage of high surface sensitivity that pairs well with the size of medically important biomacromolecules and biological particulates such as viruses and exosomes. The goal of this review is to introduce the latest advances in nanoplasmonic sensors for the biointerfacial sciences, including ongoing development of nanoparticle and nanohole arrays for exploring different classes of biomacromolecules interacting at solid-liquid interfaces. The measurement principles for nanoplasmonic sensors based on utilizing the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) phenomena are first introduced. The following sections are then categorized around different themes within the biointerfacial sciences, specifically protein binding and conformational changes, lipid membrane fabrication, membrane-protein interactions, exosome and virus detection and analysis, and probing nucleic acid conformations and binding interactions. Across these themes, we discuss the growing trend to utilize nanoplasmonic sensors for advanced measurement capabilities, including positional sensing, biomacromolecular conformation analysis, and real-time kinetic monitoring of complex biological interactions. Altogether, these advances highlight the rich potential of nanoplasmonic sensors and the future growth prospects of the community as a whole. With ongoing development of commercial nanoplasmonic sensors and analytical models to interpret corresponding measurement data in the context of biologically relevant interactions, there is significant opportunity to utilize nanoplasmonic sensing strategies for not only fundamental biointerfacial science, but also translational science applications related to clinical medicine and pharmaceutical drug development among countless possibilities.

Kinetic Analysis and Epitope Binning Using Surface Plasmon Resonance

The ability to quantify binding affinity of molecular interactions is an essential component of drug development and life science research. This chapter outlines the practical use of surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy to monitor protein-protein interactions with an emphasis on basic experimental design. A short summary of epitope binning assays is also included.

High Figure of Merit (FOM) of Bragg Modes in Au-Coated Nanodisk Arrays for Plasmonic Sensing

Gold-coated nanodisk arrays of nearly micron periodicity are reported that have high figure of merit (FOM) and sensitivity necessary for plasmonic refractometric sensing, with the added benefit of suitability for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), large-scale microfabrication using standard photolithographic techniques and a simple instrumental setup. Gold nanodisk arrays are covered with a gold layer to excite the Bragg modes (BM), which are the propagative surface plasmons localized by the diffraction from the disk array. This generates surface-guided modes, localized as standing waves, leading to highly confined fields confirmed by a mapping of the SERS intensity and numerical simulations with 3D finite element method. The optimal gold-coated nanodisk arrays are applied for refractometric sensing in transmission spectroscopy with better performance than nanohole arrays and they are integrated to a 96-well plate reader for detection of IgY proteins in the nanometer range in PBS. The potential for sensing in biofluids is assessed with IgG detection in 1:1 diluted urine. The structure exhibits a high FOM of up to 46, exceeding the FOM of structures supporting surface plasmon polaritons and comparable to more complex nanostructures, demonstrating that subwavelength features are not necessary for high-performance plasmonic sensing.

Superior LSPR substrates based on electromagnetic decoupling for on-a-chip high-throughput label-free biosensing

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) biosensing based on supported metal nanoparticles offers unparalleled possibilities for high-end miniaturization, multiplexing and high-throughput label-free molecular interaction analysis in real time when integrated within an opto-fluidic environment. However, such LSPR-sensing devices typically contain extremely large regions of dielectric materials that are open to molecular adsorption, which must be carefully blocked to avoid compromising the device readings. To address this issue, we made the support essentially invisible to the LSPR by carefully removing the dielectric material overlapping with the localized plasmonic fields through optimized wet-etching. The resulting LSPR substrate, which consists of gold nanodisks centered on narrow SiO₂ pillars, exhibits markedly reduced vulnerability to nonspecific substrate adsorption, thus allowing, in an ideal case, the implementation of thicker and more efficient passivation layers. We demonstrate that this approach is effective and fully compatible with state-of-the-art multiplexed real-time biosensing technology and thus represents the ideal substrate design for high-throughput label-free biosensing systems with minimal sample consumption.

Plasmonic nanohole array biosensor for label-free and real-time analysis of live cell secretion

Cell secretion dynamics plays a central role in physiological and disease processes. Due to its various temporal profiles, it is essential to implement a precise detection scheme for continuous monitoring of secretion in real time. The current fluorescent and colorimetric approaches hinder such applications due to their multiple time-consuming steps, molecular labeling, and especially the 'snapshot' endpoint readouts. Here, we develop a nanoplasmonic biosensor for real-time monitoring of live cell cytokine secretion in a label-free configuration. Our nanoplasmonic biosensor is composed of gold nanohole arrays supporting extraordinary optical transmission (EOT), which enables sensitive and high-throughput analysis of biomolecules. The nanobiosensor is integrated with an adjustable microfluidic cell module for the analysis of live cells under well-controlled culture conditions. We achieved an outstanding sensitivity for the detection of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) directly in complex cell media. Significantly, the secretion dynamics from live cancer cells were monitored and quantified for 10 hours while preserving good cell viability. This novel approach of probing cytokine secretion activity is compatible with conventional inverted microscopes found in a common biology laboratory. With its simple optical set-up and label-free detection configuration, we anticipate our nanoplasmonic biosensor to be a powerful tool as a lab-on-chip device to analyze cellular activities for fundamental cell research and biotechnologies.

Probing the Interaction of Dielectric Nanoparticles with Supported Lipid Membrane Coatings on Nanoplasmonic Arrays

The integration of supported lipid membranes with surface-based nanoplasmonic arrays provides a powerful sensing approach to investigate biointerfacial phenomena at membrane interfaces. While a growing number of lipid vesicles, protein, and nucleic acid systems have been explored with nanoplasmonic sensors, there has been only very limited investigation of the interactions between solution-phase nanomaterials and supported lipid membranes. Herein, we established a surface-based localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensing platform for probing the interaction of dielectric nanoparticles with supported lipid bilayer (SLB)-coated, plasmonic nanodisk arrays. A key emphasis was placed on controlling membrane functionality by tuning the membrane surface charge vis-à-vis lipid composition. The optical sensing properties of the bare and SLB-coated sensor surfaces were quantitatively compared, and provided an experimental approach to evaluate nanoparticle-membrane interactions across different SLB platforms. While the interaction of negatively-charged silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) with a zwitterionic SLB resulted in monotonic adsorption, a stronger interaction with a positively-charged SLB resulted in adsorption and lipid transfer from the SLB to the SiNP surface, in turn influencing the LSPR measurement responses based on the changing spatial proximity of transferred lipids relative to the sensor surface. Precoating SiNPs with bovine serum albumin (BSA) suppressed lipid transfer, resulting in monotonic adsorption onto both zwitterionic and positively-charged SLBs. Collectively, our findings contribute a quantitative understanding of how supported lipid membrane coatings influence the sensing performance of nanoplasmonic arrays, and demonstrate how the high surface sensitivity of nanoplasmonic sensors is well-suited for detecting the complex interactions between nanoparticles and lipid membranes.

Surface Plasmon Resonance Clinical Biosensors for Medical Diagnostics

The design and application of sensors for monitoring biomolecules in clinical samples is a common goal of the sensing research community. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and other plasmonic techniques such as localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and imaging SPR are reaching a maturity level sufficient for their application in monitoring biomolecules in clinical samples. In recent years, the first examples for monitoring antibodies, proteins, enzymes, drugs, small molecules, peptides, and nucleic acids in biofluids collected from patients afflicted with a series of medical conditions (Alzheimer's, hepatitis, diabetes, leukemia, and cancers such as prostate and breast cancers, among others) demonstrate the progress of SPR sensing in clinical chemistry. This Perspective reviews the current status of the field, showcasing a series of early successes in the application of SPR for clinical analysis and detailing a series of considerations regarding sensing schemes, exposing issues with analysis in biofluids, and comparing SPR with ELISA, while providing an outlook of the challenges currently associated with plasmonic materials, instrumentation, microfluidics, bioreceptor selection, selection of a clinical market, and validation of a clinical assay for applying SPR sensors to clinical samples. Research opportunities are proposed to further advance the field and transition SPR biosensors from research proof-of-concept stage to actual clinical applications.

Ultrasensitive Plasmonic Platform for Label-Free Detection of Membrane-Associated Species

Lipid membranes and membrane proteins are important biosensing targets, motivating the development of label-free methods with improved sensitivity. Silica-coated metal nanoparticles allow these systems to be combined with supported lipid bilayers for sensing membrane proteins through localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). However, the small sensing volume of LSPR makes the thickness of the silica layer critical for performance. Here, we develop a simple, inexpensive, and rapid sol-gel method for preparing thin conformal, continuous silica films and demonstrate its applicability using gold nanodisk arrays with LSPRs in the near-infrared range. Silica layers as thin as ∼5 nm are observed using cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy. The loss in sensitivity due to the thin silica coating was found to be only 16%, and the biosensing capabilities of the substrates were assessed through the binding of cholera toxin B to GM1 lipids. This sensor platform should prove useful in the rapid, multiplexed detection and screening of membrane-associated biological targets.

Direct spectral imaging of plasmonic nanohole arrays for real-time sensing

Plasmon-enhanced optical transmission through arrays of nano-structured holes has led to the development of a new generation of optical sensors. In this paper, to dramatically simplify the standard optical setups of these sensors, we position the nanoholes, an LED illumination source and a spacer layer directly on top of a CMOS imager chip. Transmitted light diffracts from the nanohole array, spreading into a spectrum over the space of a millimeter to land on the imager as a full spectrum. Our chip is used as a sensor in both a liquid and a gas environment. The spectrum is monitored in real-time and the plasmon-enhanced transmission peaks shift upon exposure to different concentrations of glycerol-in-water solutions or ethanol vapors in nitrogen. While liquids provide good refractive index contrast for sensing, to enhance sensitivity to solvent vapors, we filled the nanoholes with solvatochromic dyes. This on-chip solution circumvents the bulky components (e.g. microscopes, coupling optics, and spectrometers) needed for traditional plasmonic sensing setups, uses the nanohole array as both the sensing surface and a diffraction grating, and maintains good sensitivity. Finally, we show simultaneous sensing from two side-by-side locations, demonstrating potential for multiplexing and lab on a chip integration.

A compact imaging spectroscopic system for biomolecular detections on plasmonic chips

In this study, we demonstrate a compact imaging spectroscopic system for high-throughput detection of biomolecular interactions on plasmonic chips, based on a curved grating as the key element of light diffraction and light focusing.

Study of flow rate induced measurement error in flow-through nano-hole plasmonic sensor

Flow-through gold film perforated with periodically arrayed sub-wavelength nano-holes can cause extraordinary optical transmission (EOT), which has recently emerged as a label-free surface plasmon resonance sensor in biochemical detection by measuring the transmission spectral shift. This paper describes a systematic study of the effect of microfluidic field on the spectrum of EOT associated with the porous gold film. To detect biochemical molecules, the sub-micron-thick film is free-standing in a microfluidic field and thus subject to hydrodynamic deformation. The film deformation alone may cause spectral shift as measurement error, which is coupled with the spectral shift as real signal associated with the molecules. However, this microfluid-induced measurement error has long been overlooked in the field and needs to be identified in order to improve the measurement accuracy. Therefore, we have conducted simulation and analytic analysis to investigate how the microfluidic flow rate affects the EOT spectrum and verified the effect through experiment with a sandwiched device combining Au/Cr/Si3N4 nano-hole film and polydimethylsiloxane microchannels. We found significant spectral blue shift associated with even small flow rates, for example, 12.60 nm for 4.2 μl/min. This measurement error corresponds to 90 times the optical resolution of the current state-of-the-art commercially available spectrometer or 8400 times the limit of detection. This really severe measurement error suggests that we should pay attention to the microfluidic parameter setting for EOT-based flow-through nano-hole sensors and adopt right scheme to improve the measurement accuracy.

Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensing: Current Challenges and Approaches

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) has emerged as a leader among label-free biosensing techniques in that it offers sensitive, robust, and facile detection. Traditional LSPR-based biosensing utilizes the sensitivity of the plasmon frequency to changes in local index of refraction at the nanoparticle surface. Although surface plasmon resonance technologies are now widely used to measure biomolecular interactions, several challenges remain. In this article, we have categorized these challenges into four categories: improving sensitivity and limit of detection, selectivity in complex biological solutions, sensitive detection of membrane-associated species, and the adaptation of sensing elements for point-of-care diagnostic devices. The first section of this article will involve a conceptual discussion of surface plasmon resonance and the factors affecting changes in optical signal detected. The following sections will discuss applications of LSPR biosensing with an emphasis on recent advances and approaches to overcome the four limitations mentioned above. First, improvements in limit of detection through various amplification strategies will be highlighted. The second section will involve advances to improve selectivity in complex media through self-assembled monolayers, “plasmon ruler” devices involving plasmonic coupling, and shape complementarity on the nanoparticle surface. The following section will describe various LSPR platforms designed for the sensitive detection of membrane-associated species. Finally, recent advances towards multiplexed and microfluidic LSPR-based devices for inexpensive, rapid, point-of-care diagnostics will be discussed.

Nanotechnologies in protein microarrays

Protein microarray technology became an important research tool for study and detection of proteins, protein-protein interactions and a number of other applications. The utilization of nanoparticle-based materials and nanotechnology-based techniques for immobilization allows us not only to extend the surface for biomolecule immobilization resulting in enhanced substrate binding properties, decreased background signals and enhanced reporter systems for more sensitive assays. Generally in contemporarily developed microarray systems, multiple nanotechnology-based techniques are combined. In this review, applications of nanoparticles and nanotechnologies in creating protein microarrays, proteins immobilization and detection are summarized. We anticipate that advanced nanotechnologies can be exploited to expand promising fields of proteins identification, monitoring of protein-protein or drug-protein interactions, or proteins structures.

Label-free detection of tobramycin in serum by transmission-localized surface plasmon resonance

In order to improve the efficacy and safety of treatments, drug dosage needs to be adjusted to the actual needs of each patient in a truly personalized medicine approach. Key for widespread dosage adjustment is the availability of point-of-care devices able to measure plasma drug concentration in a simple, automated, and cost-effective fashion. In the present work, we introduce and test a portable, palm-sized transmission-localized surface plasmon resonance (T-LSPR) setup, comprised of off-the-shelf components and coupled with DNA-based aptamers specific to the antibiotic tobramycin (467 Da). The core of the T-LSPR setup are aptamer-functionalized gold nanoislands (NIs) deposited on a glass slide covered with fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), which acts as a biosensor. The gold NIs exhibit localized plasmon resonance in the visible range matching the sensitivity of the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor employed as a light detector. The combination of gold NIs on the FTO substrate, causing NIs size and pattern irregularity, might reduce the overall sensitivity but confers extremely high stability in high-ionic solutions, allowing it to withstand numerous regeneration cycles without sensing losses. With this rather simple T-LSPR setup, we show real-time label-free detection of tobramycin in buffer, measuring concentrations down to 0.5 μM. We determined an affinity constant of the aptamer-tobramycin pair consistent with the value obtained using a commercial propagating-wave based SPR. Moreover, our label-free system can detect tobramycin in filtered undiluted blood serum, measuring concentrations down to 10 μM with a theoretical detection limit of 3.4 μM. While the association signal of tobramycin onto the aptamer is masked by the serum injection, the quantification of the captured tobramycin is possible during the dissociation phase and leads to a linear calibration curve for the concentrations over the tested range (10-80 μM). The plasmon shift following surface binding is calculated in terms of both plasmon peak location and hue, with the latter allowing faster data elaboration and real-time display of the results. The presented T-LSPR system shows for the first time label-free direct detection and quantification of a small molecule in the complex matrix of filtered undiluted blood serum. Its uncomplicated construction and compact size, together with the remarkable performances, represent a leap forward toward effective point-of-care devices for therapeutic drug concentration monitoring.

Sensing applications based on plasmonic nanopores: The hole story

A review of sensing applications based on plasmonic nanopores is given. Many new types of plasmonic nanopores have recently been fabricated, including pores penetrating multilayers of thin films, using a great variety of fabrication techniques based on either serial nanolithography or self-assembly. One unique advantage with nanopores compared to other plasmonic sensors is that sample liquids can flow through the surface, which increases the rate of binding and improves the detection limit under certain conditions. Also, by utilizing the continuous metal films, electrical control can be implemented for electrochemistry, dielectrophoresis and resistive heating. Much effort is still spent on trying to improve sensor performance in various ways, but the literature uses inconsistent benchmark parameters. Recently plasmonic nanopores have been used to analyse targets of high clinical or academic interest. Although this is an important step forward, one should probably reflect upon whether the same results could have been achieved with another optical technique. Overall, this critical review suggests that the research field would benefit by focusing on applications where plasmonic nanopores truly can offer unique advantages over similar techniques.

Plasmonic biosensors

The unique optical properties of plasmon resonant nanostructures enable exploration of nanoscale environments using relatively simple optical characterization techniques. For this reason, the field of plasmonics continues to garner the attention of the biosensing community. Biosensors based on propagating surface plasmon resonances (SPRs) in films are the most well-recognized plasmonic biosensors, but there is great potential for the new, developing technologies to surpass the robustness and popularity of film-based SPR sensing. This review surveys the current plasmonic biosensor landscape with emphasis on the basic operating principles of each plasmonic sensing technique and the practical considerations when developing a sensing platform with the various techniques. The 'gold standard' film SPR technique is reviewed briefly, but special emphasis is devoted to the up-and-coming localized surface plasmon resonance and plasmonically coupled sensor technology.

Various on-chip sensors with microfluidics for biological applications

In this paper, we review recent advances in on-chip sensors integrated with microfluidics for biological applications. Since the 1990s, much research has concentrated on developing a sensing system using optical phenomena such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to improve the sensitivity of the device. The sensing performance can be significantly enhanced with the use of microfluidic chips to provide effective liquid manipulation and greater flexibility. We describe an optical image sensor with a simpler platform for better performance over a larger field of view (FOV) and greater depth of field (DOF). As a new trend, we review consumer electronics such as smart phones, tablets, Google glasses, etc. which are being incorporated in point-of-care (POC) testing systems. In addition, we discuss in detail the current optical sensing system integrated with a microfluidic chip.

Transmissive Nanohole Arrays for Massively-Parallel Optical Biosensing

A high-throughput optical biosensing technique is proposed and demonstrated. This hybrid technique combines optical transmission of nanoholes with colorimetric silver staining. The size and spacing of the nanoholes are chosen so that individual nanoholes can be independently resolved in massive parallel using an ordinary transmission optical microscope, and, in place of determining a spectral shift, the brightness of each nanohole is recorded to greatly simplify the readout. Each nanohole then acts as an independent sensor, and the blocking of nanohole optical transmission by enzymatic silver staining defines the specific detection of a biological agent. Nearly 10000 nanoholes can be simultaneously monitored under the field of view of a typical microscope. As an initial proof of concept, biotinylated lysozyme (biotin-HEL) was used as a model analyte, giving a detection limit as low as 0.1 ng/mL.

Template fabricated plasmonic nanoholes on analyte-sensitive substrates for real-time vapor sensing

Plasmonic nanoholes on analyte-sensitive substrates are used for vapor sensing.