Research Project
8557600
Label-free, highly sensitive early cancer detection sensors with required specificity are in great demand. In Phase 1, we experimentally confirmed feasibility of our proposed photonic crystal (PC) microarray with real data better than all reported sensing methods. These include absolute biomolecule mass sensitivity 8.8attograms (10A-18grams), surface mass sensitivity 0.8picogram (10A-12grams)/mmA2 in a sensing area 5.7micronA2. We demonstrated sensing capability of 72 binding reactions between a target and its conjugate probe biomolecule simultaneously, at the same time with 60 microliters total probe sample volume. We detected lung cancer ceillysates with specificity by sandwich assay. In Phase 2, all demonstrated components for chip integrated microarray will be integrated with antibodies detecting lung and breast cancer cell Iysates with high sensitivity, specificity and throughput via committed collaborations with Medical University of South Carolina and MD Anderson Cancer Center. The device has biomolecule functionalized PC microcavity resonator arrays coupled to a PC waveguide, further arrayed using multimode interference splitters, which transduce specific binding between probe and target biomolecules. Our multi-analyte sensing has applications in drug discovery, food feedstock assays and biD-warfare defense. Silicon CMOS compatibility ensures mass manufacturability with at least one order of magnitude better cost of ownership than any existing approach
