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Scalable 3D Micro-Printed Sensors Promise Optofluidic Disease Detection





Early-stage disease diagnosis relies on the highly sensitive detection of biomarkers, such as optical whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) microcavity sensors; such devices provide precise, label-free biosensing. However, scaling and integrating large-scale arrayed WGM microcavity sensors is challenging. Bottlenecks in sensor design can lead to these bottlenecks.

In response, researchers at Hong Kong Polytechnic University developed a 3D micro-printed WGM micro-laser sensor for sensitive on-chip biosensing. The developed sensor, a limacon-shaped WGM micro-laser sensor, was created using flexible micro-printing technology with the optical advantages of WGM micro-lasers.

In the device, optical WGM micro-laser sensors circulate light resonantly within tiny microcavities. Experimental results highlighted the potential of the device for ultralow-limit detection of biomarkers in early disease diagnosis. When target molecules bind to the cavity’s surface, they induce slight changes in the laser’s wavelength, enabling highly sensitive detection of biological substances.

“In the future, these WGM micro-laser sensors could be integrated into a microfluidic chip to enable a new generation of lab-on-a-chip devices for ultrasensitive, quantitative detection of multiple biomarkers," said research lead A. Ping Zhang. "This technology could be used for the early diagnosis of diseases such as cancers and Alzheimer's disease, or for fighting major health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The challenge in scaling these sensors is the need to couple light entering and leaving them, which typically requires a tapered optical fiber with a diameter <2 μm, a comparatively small size that makes them difficult to align. Using the light emitted directly from the micro-laser sensor offers a promising alternative to using tapered optical fibers for light coupling. However, the circular microcavities of conventional WGM micro-lasers make efficient far-field light collection difficult, thereby limiting the readability of the sensor’s weak signal.

The sensor, using resonance and a narrow linewidth of lasing peaks, can detect immunoglobulin G, an extremely small but common antibody found in blood and other body fluids. Experimental results showed that the sensor can detect this antibody at a detection limit of ~70 ag/mL.

Integrating the micro-laser sensors into a microfluidic chip could lead to the eventually development of optofluidic biochips for rapid, quantitative, and simultaneous detection of multiple disease biomarkers.

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