Hybrid Sensor Device for Simultaneous Surface Plasmon Resonance and Surface Acoustic Wave Measurements

Abstract

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and Love wave (LW) surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors have been established as reliable biosensing technologies for label-free, real-time monitoring of biomolecular interactions. This work reports the development of a combined SPR/LW-SAW platform to facilitate simultaneous optical and acoustic measurements for the investigation of biomolecules binding on a single surface. The system’s output provides recordings of two acoustic parameters, phase and amplitude of a Love wave, synchronized with SPR readings. We present the design and manufacturing of a novel experimental set-up employing, in addition to the SPR/LW-SAW device, a 3D-printed plastic holder combined with a PDMS microfluidic cell so that the platform can be used in a flow-through mode. The system was evaluated in a systematic study of the optical and acoustic responses for different surface perturbations, i.e., rigid mass loading (Au deposition), pure viscous loading (glycerol and sucrose solutions) and protein adsorption (BSA). Our results provide the theoretical and experimental basis for future application of the combined system to other biochemical and biophysical studies.

3D Printing Technologies in Biosensors Production: Recent Developments

“…The developed system was the object of a systematic evaluation of optical and acoustic signals as a function of different surface perturbations, i.e., rigid mass loading (Au deposition), pure viscous loading (glycerol and sucrose solutions), and protein adsorption (BSA). The results obtained for this combined sensor set the fundamentals of future applications to other biochemical and biophysical studies, such as protein-protein and nucleic acid-protein interactions and the evaluation of surface topography influence on cell adhesion [31].…”

“…In addition to its widespread application in healthcare monitoring, where it demonstrated a remarkable applicability, material extrusion 3D printing has also been highlighted for its suitability in other fields of application, such as biophysics, with regard to the absorption properties of relevant molecules in biochemistry and molecular biology studies. In this regard, Samarentsis et al [31] fabricated surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and love wave (LW) surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors for biophysical and biochemical analysis. The final goal of this device was to facilitate simultaneous measurements of optical and acoustic signals for the study of biomolecules' binding properties on a single surface.…”

“…By using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a protein model, two acoustic parameters, phase and amplitude of a LW, were carried out in synchronization with SPR readings. Figure 4 shows the experimental set-up assembly: in addition to the SPR/LW-SAW device, the system was equipped with a plastic holder combined with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic cell so that the platform could be used in flow-through mode [31]. By using a previously designed CAD object, 3D printing technology was used here to create a device holder in PLA for the electrical connection of the sensor device with the network analyzer.…”

Degradation of Sub-Micrometer Sensitive Polymer Layers of Acoustic Sensors Exposed to Chlorpyrifos Water-Solution

“…Magnitude of the insertion losses of echo 2 is shown in Figure 4 a to emphasize the degradation of the polymer as visible with the increasing losses after each exposure and cleaning steps. The insertion loss increases of several dB are much larger than those usually observed upon polymer, globular protein, or DNA adsorption, hinting at the in-depth degradation process scattering the acoustic wave [ 22 , 23 , 24 ].…”

Studying Soft Interfaces with Shear Waves: Principles and Applications of the Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM)

“…Given that the electrodes often consist of gold, variants of optical reflectometry can be employed, which are simpler than full-fledged ellipsometry [ 228 , 229 ]. If it shall be SPR on the side of optical reflectometry, it can be Love wave sensors on the side of shear-wave acoustics [ 230 ]. Love wave sensors are a variant of the surface acoustic wave devices [ 231 , 232 ].…”