Optical Biomedical Diagnostics Using Lab-on-Fiber Technology: A Review

Abstract

Point-of-care and in-vivo bio-diagnostic tools are the current need for the present critical scenarios in the healthcare industry. The past few decades have seen a surge in research activities related to solving the challenges associated with precise on-site bio-sensing. Cutting-edge fiber optic technology enables the interaction of light with functionalized fiber surfaces at remote locations to develop a novel, miniaturized and cost-effective lab on fiber technology for bio-sensing applications. The recent remarkable developments in the field of nanotechnology provide innumerable functionalization methodologies to develop selective bio-recognition elements for label free biosensors. These exceptional methods may be easily integrated with fiber surfaces to provide highly selective light-matter interaction depending on various transduction mechanisms. In the present review, an overview of optical fiber-based biosensors has been provided with focus on physical principles used, along with the functionalization protocols for the detection of various biological analytes to diagnose the disease. The design and performance of these biosensors in terms of operating range, selectivity, response time and limit of detection have been discussed. In the concluding remarks, the challenges associated with these biosensors and the improvement required to develop handheld devices to enable direct target detection have been highlighted.

Low-Cost High-Sensitive Plastic Optical Fiber-Based Sensor for Detection of CO(NH2)2 Urea

“…According to the research by Botewad et al, they studied the sensitivity of the optical fiber sensors by using the PANI-ZnO as the coating showing a linear response to urea solution and then compared the selectivity of the sensor to L-arginine, L-alanine, glucose, ascorbic acid, and thiourea. The results showed the less significant response compared to urea [20]. The measurement results of the urea level sensor based on POF with PANI-ZnO coating are shown in Figure 6.…”

Label-Free Biochemical Sensing Using Processed Optical Fiber Interferometry: A Review

“…These sensors are compact, easy to handle, cost-effective, highly sensitive, and selective toward biological target analytes. 51 These sensors facilitate the collection of information about the sensing analyte based on the morphological changes, and cell interactions through attachment/detachment or even through cell death. 52 2.5.…”

“…These functionalized cells are very sensitive to any change in external analyte and produce readable output in terms of shape and size of cells, fluorescence, color change, and morphological modification in the cell membrane. These sensors are compact, easy to handle, cost-effective, highly sensitive, and selective toward biological target analytes . These sensors facilitate the collection of information about the sensing analyte based on the morphological changes, and cell interactions through attachment/detachment or even through cell death …”

Manganese-Doped Carbon Dots as a Promising Nanoprobe for Luminescent and Magnetic Resonance Imaging

“…One of the methods for biomedical diagnostics is the lab-on-fiber concept for sensing glucose, urea, cholesterol, etc. [13], including those where the optical tips are covered with CDs [14]. Another example of optical nanoprobes are those based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), which are very sensitive [15] and can be also supported by the lab-on-fiber concept [16,17].…”