Scientists Develop a New Biosensor to Express Colorless and Transparent Biomaterials

Recently a new biosensor has been developed that can detect and analyze biomaterials' colors using nanostructure and apply a new image signal processing technique.

A biosensor to detect and analyze colorless and transparent biomaterials

Scientists Develop a New Biosensor to Express Colorless and Transparent Biomaterials

The Biosensor can Express Colorless and Transparent Biomaterials

A biosensor is a device comprising a physiochemical detector and a biological element that is used to detect and analyze biomaterials' colors using nanostructure.

It also has a wide range of uses ranging from clinical through to agricultural, environmental and food industry.

On Wednesday, 20 February 2019, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) announced that Professor Jae Eun Jang's research team in the Department of Information and Communication Engineering has developed a biosensor that can detect and analyze biomaterials' colors using nanostructure and apply a new image signal processing technique.

Active R&D is working on explaining the relationship with a certain illness and outbreak mechanism through the analysis of biometrics (biomaterials) inside organs or cells.

 Since biomaterials such as proteins are difficult to be seen and analyzed by optical microscopes or naked eyes because they are colorless and transparent within the range of visible rays. 

Using a biomarker to show a certain color, a different approach is taken to see them after secondary processing. 

However, the development of new technology has been demanded to find biomaterials without biomarkers as biomarker techniques can change the characteristics of biomaterials and some of them cannot be taken in biomarker processing.

The researchers produced a plasmonic nanostructure, where uniform nanoholes are applied regularly on a metal film. 

Like a color lens that allows certain light selectively to pass through if regular punctures or fine holes are drilled on a metal film, then the property around a nanostructure is changed and showing a different color, the wavelength of the selected light also changes. 

Different colors appear by the substance when different biomaterials are placed on a nanostructure, that can be seen and observed by the microscope or even naked eyes.

At first, using a simplified image sensor, the researchers obtained biomaterials without an analyzer such as a spectrometer and then analyzed the biometric image data by pixels. 

They developed a high-resolution image processing technique by demonstrating that color sensitivity through the biomaterial changes that are related to the time periods of the nanostructure arrangement.

Using this technique, the researchers succeeded in obtaining color information of nanostructure by altering biomaterials through the image sensor and developed a biometric sensor (biosensor) that can accurately detect real-time biological materials (biomaterials) through the application of newly developed signal processing technology.

The biosensor developed by the researchers can easily analyze and detect biomaterials in real time without an analyzer or secondary processing technology so that it can be widely used in various biological researches such as disease mechanism analysis and the development of new drugs. 

It can also be readily marketed as it is applicable to the current analysis method using a microscope.

"We have developed a core technology that can effectively apply on classifying and tracking essential biomaterials in biological research.

We expect it can be used actively in brain disease research and treatment through the results of integrated research by electronic engineering, nanoengineering, and brain science experts," said Professor Jae Eun Jang in the Department of Information and Communication Engineering.

Using the selective penetrability by the plasmonic nanostructure,Professor Jae Eun Jang's team in the Department of Information and Communication Engineering has conducted biosensor research through joint research with the team of Professor Jae Youn Hwang in the Department of Information and Communication Engineering and Professor Che Il Moon's team in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. 

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Story Source: 

ScienceDaily, 5 March 2019: New technology developed to detect and analyze colorless and transparent biomaterials

Journal Reference:

Youngjin Lee, Jae Yeon Kim, Hyuk-Jun Kwon, Seunguk Kim, Jae Hoon Yang, Jae Youn Hwang, Jae Eun Jang, Cheil Moon. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2019; 126: 743 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2018.11.048 Color-sensitive and the spectrometer-free plasmonic sensor for biosensing applications.