A patent has been approved on the new "optofluidic"
When implemented in working devices, this approach might improve biomedical sensing of cancer biomarkers; be used for extraordinarily precise forensics work; save the lives of military personnel in combat situations; detect illegal drugs; or help tell whether organic food is really pesticide free or not.
The enormous sensitivity and low cost of the technology may have endless applications, researchers say, ranging from health monitoring to environmental protection, biological experiments and other uses.
"Some existing sensors can detect compounds at levels of one part per billion, which sounds pretty good, but for many purposes that's not good enough," said Alan Wang, an OSU assistant professor of electrical engineering in the OSU College of Engineering, and corresponding author on the study.
"With this approach, we can detect some types of compounds at less than one part per trillion, about the level of a single molecule in a small sample. That's really difficult. Aside from its sensitivity, the technology can also work with ultra-small samples, is fast, and should be very inexpensive to use."
This system combines advanced optics with a fluidic system to identify compounds. With most conventional systems of this type, fluids must flow over a surface, and this limits the transport of specific molecules you might want to identify, Wang said.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2016-11-optofluidic-technology-power-diatoms-sensor.html#jCp
