A Low-Power CMOS Analog Front-End IC with Adjustable On-Chip Filters for Biosensors

This paper presents a low-power CMOS analog front-end (AFE) IC designed with a selectable on-chip dual AC/DC- coupled paths for bio-sensor applications. The DC-coupled path can be selected to sense a biosignal with useful DC information, and the AC-coupled path can be selected for sensing the AC content of the biosignal by attenuating the unwanted DC component. The AFE IC includes a DC-coupled instrumentation amplifier (INA), two variable-gain 1st-order low pass filters (LPF) with tunable cut-off frequencies, a fixed gain 2nd-order Sallen-Key high-pass filter (HPF) with tunable cut-off frequencies, a buffer and an 8-bit differential successive approximation register (SAR) ADC. The entire AFE channel is designed and fabricated in a proprietary 0.35-μm CMOS technology. Excluding an external buffer needed to properly drive the ADC, the measured AFE IC consumes only 2.37 μA/channel with an input referred noise of ~40 μVrms in [1 Hz, 1 kHz], and successfully displays proper ECG (electrocardiogram) and electrogram (EGM) waveforms for QRS peaks detection. We expect that the low-power dual-path design of this AFE IC can enable it to periodically record both the AC and the DC signals for proper sensing and calibration for various bio-sensing applications.

Urea Amperometric Biosensors Based on Nanostructured Polypyrrole and Poly Ortho-Phenylenediamine

Urea Amperometric biosensor was obtained on the base of nanostructured polypyrrole (PPy) and poly ortho- phenylenediamine (POPDA). The optimal conditions for monomer electropolymerization were determined. The effect of supporting electrolyte and number of deposition cycles on the OPDA and Py electropolymerization were studied. It was proved that POPDA and PPy were affected by pH changes and responded to the ammonium, product of urease catalyzed reaction. SEM images of the modified Pt/PPy electrode were presented. The cycle voltammograms and chrono amperometric curves of Pt/POPDA/urease and Pt/PPy/urease electrodes were studied. A good linear relationship was observed for Pt/POPDA/urease electrode in a concentration range from 6.7 to 54 mMurea. For Pt/PPy/urease electrode the linear relation in the range from 0.02 to0.16 mMurea was determined. The entrapped carbon nanotubes (CNT) in PPy film and the bipolymer layers were prepared for construction of Pt/PPy/CNT/urease, Pt/POPDA/PPy/urease and Pt/PPy/POPDA/urease biosensors. Obviously, the addition of POPDA to the composition of the two biosensors (Pt/PPy/POPDA/urease and Pt/POPDA/PPy/urease) reduced their sensitivity to urea. Pt/РPy/CNT/urease and Pt/РPy/ urease biosensors were 173 and 138 times more sensitive to urea than biosensor without PPy (Pt/POPDA/urease biosensor). It was found, that the performance of Pt/PPy/CNT/urease electrode was the best from the five obtained biosensors: linear range of urea concentrations—from 0.02 to0.16 mM;sensitivity—15.22 μA/mM and detection limit— 0.005 mM urea.

Horseradish Peroxidase Biosensor to Detect Zinc Ions in Aqueous Solutions

Maize tassel-multiwalled carbon nanotube (MT-MWCNT) composite has been used as a matrix for physical adsorption of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) onto the surface of a glassy carbon electrode through electrostatic interactions. The HRP/MT-MWCNT biosensor was applied for the detection of Zn2+ in aqueous solution. The biosensor designed was able to determine Zn2+ in the range of 0.35 - 12 mg/L with a detection limit of 7.5 μg/L. The inhibition was found to be reversible and uncompetitive when data were modeled using the Dixon and Cornish-Bowden plots. The biosensor was found to have good repeatability, reproducibility and high selectivity. The developed biosensor can be used to detect other HRP inhibiting trace metal ions.

Technology and Applications of Microbial Biosensor

A microbial biosensor is an analytical device that immobilizes microorganisms onto a transducer for the detection of target analytes. With the development of nanotechnology, nanomaterials have been used to achieve better immobilization for developing a more reliable and selective microbial biosensor. Also, significant progress has been made in the development of transducer technology leading to higher sensitivity. Microbial biosensors have become one of the most useful means of monitoring environmental, food and clinical samples. In this review, we focus on the newly developed technologies and applications of microbial biosensors in recent years.

Electrochemical Biosensors for Determination of Organophosphorus Compounds: Review

In last few decades there is exponential increase in use of organophosphorus (OP) compounds as pesticides and insecticides leading to adverse effect on human population and live stock. There is a great need to develop portable analytical tools that are amenable for remediation and bioremediation process monitoring, where rapid analysis of large number of samples is essential. Determination of various organophosphorus compounds has been achieved by integrating biocomponents with different transducers. The close integration of the biological events with the generation of a signal offers the potential for fabricating compact and easy-to-use analytical tools of high sensitivity and specificity. With the availability of new materials, associated with new sensing techniques has led to remarkable innovations in the design and construction of organophosphorus biosensors. The present review describes the specifications of most of the electrochemical Organophosphorus biosensors reported till date.

Detection of Breast Cancer 1 (BRCA1) Gene Using an Electrochemical DNA Biosensor Based on Immobilized ZnO Nanowires

Herein we report an electrochemical DNA biosensor for the rapid detection of sequence (5’ AAT GGA TTT ATC TGC TCT TCG 3’) specific for the breast cancer 1 (BRCA1) gene. The proposed electrochemical genosensor is based on short oligonucleotide DNA probe immobilized onto zinc oxide nanowires (ZnONWs) chemically synthesized onto gold electrode via hydrothermal technique. The morphology studies of the ZnONWs, performed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), showed that the ZnO nanowires are uniform, highly dense and oriented perpendicularly to the substrate. Recognition event between the DNA probe and the target was investigated by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in 0.1 M acetate buffer solution (ABS), pH 7.00;as a result of the hybridization, an oxidation signal was observed at +0.8 V. The influences of pH, target concentration, and non-complimentary DNA on biosensor performance were examined. The proposed DNA biosensor has the ability to detect the target sequence in the range of concentration between 10.0 and 100.0 μM with a detection limit of 3.32 μM. The experimental results demonstrated that the prepared ZnONWs/Au electrodes are suitable platform for the immobilization of DNA.

An Efficient and Robust Fall Detection System Using Wireless Gait Analysis Sensor with Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) Algorithms

In this work, a total of 322 tests were taken on young volunteers by performing 10 different falls, 6 different Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and 7 Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) tests using a custom-designed Wireless Gait Analysis Sensor (WGAS). In order to perform automatic fall detection, we used Back Propagation Artificial Neural Network (BP-ANN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) based on the 6 features extracted from the raw data. The WGAS, which includes a tri-axial accelerometer, 2 gyroscopes, and a MSP430 microcontroller, is worn by the subjects at either T4 (at back) or as a belt-clip in front of the waist during the various tests. The raw data is wirelessly transmitted from the WGAS to a near-by PC for real-time fall classification. The BP ANN is optimized by varying the training, testing and validation data sets and training the network with different learning schemes. SVM is optimized by using three different kernels and selecting the kernel for best classification rate. The overall accuracy of BP ANN is obtained as 98.20% with LM and RPROP training from the T4 data, while from the data taken at the belt, we achieved 98.70% with LM and SCG learning. The overall accuracy using SVM was 98.80% and 98.71% with RBF kernel from the T4 and belt position data, respectively.

Open Journal of Applied Biosensor: Point-of-Care Biosensing and Environment Monitoring

Open Journal of Applied Biosensor: Point-of-Care Biosensing and Environment

Electromagnetic Simulation for the Diagnosis of Lipoprotein Density in Human Blood, a Non-Invasive Approach

With the rise in prevalence of Type II diabetes throughout the world, an increasing need for a portable monitoring system for both blood glucose and lipoprotein concentrations is in demand. Recent work has led to non-invasive wearable devices for monitoring changes in blood glucose concentrations using electromagnetic (EM) waves. However, this still fall short as a means of monitoring cholesterol levels in diabetic patients. The EM study on human tissues emphasized here may also relate to the safety guidelines applied to cellular communications, power lines, and other EM applications. The specific absorption rate (SAR) for the power of the non-ionizing frequency must not exceed a threshold as it impacts DNA and can lead to cancerous tissues. In this study, we used COMSOL software for the investigation of the viability of using EM within the frequency range of 64 MHz-1 GHz as a means of monitoring the transmission properties of human blood and lipoprotein. In this approach, wave equations were solved within blood and lipoprotein boundaries. Research parameters, including frequency range, Power input (SAR), and lipoprotein densities, were investigated. The transmission properties, produced by the electrical and thermal characteristics of these physiological parameters, have led to proper diagnosis of lipoprotein density. Within the frequency range of 64 MHz to 1 GHz, and for a power range of 0.1 to 0.6 SAR, lipoprotein density from 1.00 g/mL to 1.20 g/mL was considered. A 2D model, with an antenna source that supplied the electromagnetic waves to human tissues, was created for the simulations. These were used for the study of the transmission properties of the EM energy into the blood and lipoprotein tissues. While the range of magnetic flux values between simulations varies only slightly or not at all, the distribution of these values is impacted by given parameters. As such, a device capable of comparing magnetic flux values and penetration depths could easily distinguish between samples of different lipoprotein densities. The results obtained in this study can be accommodated non-invasively by human tissues, and can be produced in a practical model using wearable devices. A practical model is proposed for future consideration.

Development of a QCM (Quartz Crystal Microbalance) Biosensor to the Detection of Aflatoxin B1

In this study, we have used a direct immunoassay where the simple binding between antigen and an antibody is detected. Immunoassays were performed in a drop system, monitoring the frequency decrease of the quartz-crystal microbalance device because of mass increasing during immunoreaction. The QCM sensor was coated on both sides by gold electrodes, only one side of the crystal (liquid side) was in contact with the solution;the other side (contact side) was always dry. We tested a piezoelectric immunosensor for aflatoxin B1 (AFLA-B1) mycotoxin detection through the immo- bilization of DSP-anti-AFLAB1 antibody (AFLA-B1-Ab anti AFLAB1) on gold-coated quartz crystals (AT-cut/5 MHz). The DSP (3,3’-Dithiodipropionic-acid-di-N-hydroxysuccinimide ester) was used for the covalent attachment of the proteins. The piezoelectric crystal electrodes were pretreated by DSP for 15 min, rinsed with water and dried in a gentle flow of nitrogen gas. Then the DSP-coated crystals were installed in a sample holder and exposed to the anti-AFLAB1 antibody and to the AFLA-BI. Frequency and resistance shifts (Δf and ΔR) were measured simultaneously. Δf versus AFLA-BI concentrations in the range of 0.5 - 10 ppb exhibited a perfect linear correlation with a coefficient of above 0.998.

QCM Aptasensor for Rapid and Specific Detection of Avian Influenza Virus

There has been a need for rapid detection of Avian Influenza virus (AIV) H5N1 due to it being a potential pandemic threat. Most of the current methods, including culture isolation and PCR, are very sensitive and specific but require specialized laboratories and trained personnel in order to complete the tests and are time-consuming. The goal of this study was to design a biosensor that would be able to rapidly detect AIV H5N1 using aptamers as biosensing material and a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) for transducing method. Specific DNA aptamers against AIV H5N1 were immobilized, through biotin and streptavidin conjugation, onto the gold surface of QCM sensor to capture the target virus. Magnetic nanobeads (150 nm in diameter) were then added as amplifiers considering its large surface/volume ratio which allows for faster movement and a higher target molecule binding rate. The result showed that the captured AIV caused frequency change, and more change was observed when the AIV concentration increased. The nanobead amplification was effective at the lower concentrations of AIV, however, it was not significant when the AIV concentration was 1 HA or higher. The detection limit of the aptasensor was 1 HAU with a detection time of 1 h. The capture of the target virus on to the surface of QCM sensor and the binding of magnetic nanobeads with the virus was confirmed with electron microscopy. Aptamers have unlimited shelf life and are temperature stable which allows this aptasensor to give much more consistent results specifically for in field applications.

Improved Routing Protocol for Health Care Communications

Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) technology has significantly increased the potential of remote healthcare monitoring systems. The devices used for WBAN have limited energy resources. For most devices it is impossible to recharge or change the batteries. Since the data mostly consists of medical information, high reliability and low delay is required. The main objective of this simulation study is to evaluate the performance of routing protocol on static IEEE 802.15.4 to determine the most suitable routing protocol for Wireless Body Area Networks. Here, investigations on the various routing protocol suggest cluster topology and AODV as the probable candidate. About 16% improvement in the energy consumption was observed when modifications were made considering the energy and mobility, thus achieving high residual battery capacity and eliminating the need for recharging the batteries.

Use of Isoproturon Imprinted Polymer Membranes as a Selective Recognition Platform in a Resistance Based Electrochemical Sensor

Methacrylic acid with isoproturon has been utilized to prepare molecularly imprinted polymeric (MIP) membrane on Whatman filter paper no. 5 for selective electrochemical estimation of isoproturon pesticide. MIP membrane was prepared by radical polymerization and characterized using Ultra Violet spectrophotometer, Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Contact angle study was used to determine the surface energy of the MIP membrane and electrical conductivity measurements were performed by applying a small-amplitude alternating voltage (20 mV) with frequencies varying from 20 Hz to 80 kHz generated by a low-frequency wave form generator. Different isoproturon concentrations in samples were tested and analyzed. Results indicate linear increase in membrane resistance with increasing isoproturon in 10-3 to 10-6 M range. The selectivity of the electrochemical sensor was confirmed by testing isoproturon in presence of the structurally related compounds monouran and diuran. Results reveal highly selective and sensitive sensor, which can be employed for regular estimation of isoproturon in fields.

Applications and Technology of Electronic Nose for Clinical Diagnosis

Rapid advances in sensor technologies have facilitated the development of high-performance electronic noses that can detect and discriminate volatile compounds in situ. The research and development of electronic noses has resulted in a new qualitative and semi-quantitative detection approach in the field of clinical diagnostics. Electronic noses have a clear potential to be a non-invasive, simple and rapid but above all accurate early diagnostic screening tool. This review collates existing knowledge of recent advances in electronic nose technologies and applications.

A Novel Design of Fuzzy PID Controllers for Dual-Sensor Cardiac Pacemaker Systems

This work proposes to design a fuzzy proportional-integral derivative (FPID) controller for dual-sensor cardiac pacemaker systems, which can automatically control the heart rate to accurately track a desired preset profile. The combination of fuzzy logic and conventional PID control approaches is adopted for the controller design based on dual-sensors. This controller offers good adaptation of the heart rate to the physiological needs of the patient under different states (rest and walk). Through comparing with the conventional fuzzy control algorithm, FPID provides a more suitable control strategy to determine a pacing rate in order to achieve a closer match between actual heart rate and a desired profile. To assist the heartbeat recovery, the stimuli with adjustable pacing rate is generated by the pacemaker according to the FPID controller, such actual heart rate may track the preset heart rate faithfully. Simulation results confirm that this proposed control design is effective for heartbeat recovery and maintenance. This study will be helpful not only for the analysis and treatment of bradycardias but also for improving the performance of medical devices.

Investigation of the Holding Capability of the Dielectrophoretic Gate and Sorter System for Biodetection

The dielectrophoretic gate and sorter system has been widely applied for preconcentrating and sorting of bioparticles for biodetection. In such systems, the dielectrophoretic force is generated by applying an AC electric field on the three dimensional electrode systems (containing a pair of electrodes on the top and bottom of the channel). Particles are held and sorted by balancing the DEP force with the hydrodynamic drag force. The holding capability is very important for such systems because it determines the preconcentration and sorting efficiency. In this paper, we investigate the holding capability of a simple dielectrophoretic gate system. Initially, a three dimensional numerical scheme was introduced to estimate the holding capability and was further validated by comparing with experimental results. Second, we systematically investigated the effects of the phase difference between the top and bottom electrodes;the height and width of the channel, and the relative position and size of top and bottom electrodes. The results demonstrated that the maximum holding capability is reached when the phase difference between the top and bottom electrodes is around 180o. The results also show that the holding capability varied with the size and relative position of electrodes on the top and bottom, and the maximum holding capability is obtained when the top and bottom electrodes had the same size and the centers of both electrodes overlapped.

Culture Age on Evaluation of Electrically Active Magnetic Nanoparticles as Accurate and Efficient Microbial Extraction Tools

A potential confounding factor in the development and evaluation of biosensors is the diverse nature of the disciplines involved. Biosensor technology involves electrochemistry, microbiology, chemical synthesis, and engineering, among many other disciplines. Biological systems, due to non-homogeneous distribution, are already imprecise compared with other systems, especially food based systems. Inadequate knowledge of the techniques to moderate this leads to ineffective evaluation strategies and potentially halting the pursuit of excellent technology that was merely poorly evaluated. This research was undertaken to evaluate the effect culture age had on the capture efficiency of the electrically active magnetic nanoparticles (EAMNP) using culture as the evaluation tool. The age of culture used for immunomagnetic separation (IMS) over all the experiments was 6 to 18 hours. Ideal culture age range for evaluating biosensors is 4 to 10 hours according to the growth curve for E. coli O157: H7 in trypticase soy broth. This is supported by the statistically significant difference among organisms in groups from 3 to 10 hours old compared with those grouped from 11 to 18 and >19 hours old (α = 0.05, p = 0.001 and p = 0.014 respectively). The two older categories were not different from each other. The capture efficiency in all biosensor analysis will vary less than when culture of only viable cells is the diagnostic tool. This allows a true evaluation of the consistency and accuracy of the method, less hindered by the variation in the ability to culture the organism.

Editorial

Editorial: Open Journal of Applied Biosensor (OJAB)

Twin-T Oscillator Containing Polymer Coated Parallel Plate Capacitor for Sea Water Salinity Sensing

This paper presents the development of a Twin-T oscillator comprising polymer coated parallel plates as a sensor for ocean water salinity monitoring.This sensor employs a parallel plate capacitor design, with sea water serving as the medium between plates. Novalac resin and a proprietary commercial polymer (AccufloTW) were investigated as corrosion protective coatings for the copper electrodes of the capacitor. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was employed to evaluate corrosion inhibition of polymer coatingin sea water. A detection circuit was designed and simulated using P-spice and then implemented in Printed Circuit Board (PCB). EIS results indicate that Accuflo exhibits better corrosion inhibition in ocean water than Novolac. Further, the use of Twin-T oscillator based detection circuit resulted in enhanced sensitivity and better detection limit. Experiments performed using ocean water samples resulted in oscillator frequency shift of 410 Hertz/power supply unit (Hz/PSU). Oscillator frequency drift was reduced using frequency-to-voltage converters and sensitivity of 10 mV/PSU was achieved.

A Microfluidic Reactor for Energy Applications

Miniature microbial fuel cells have recently drawn lots of attention as portable power generation devices due to their short startup time and environmentally-friendly process which could be used for powering small integrated biosensors. We designed and fabricated a microbial fuel cell in a microfluidic platform. The device was made in polydimethylsiloxane with a volume of 4 μL and consisted of two carbon cloth electrodes and proton exchange membrane. Shewanella Oneidensis MR-1 was chosen to be the electrogenic bacterial strain and inoculated into the anode chamber. Ferricyanide was used as the catholyte and pumped into the cathode chamber at a constant flow rate during the experiment. The mi- niature microbial fuel cell generated a maximum current of 2.59 μA and had a significantly short startup time.