Biosensors

TY BSC
 Biosensors
 Biosensors: excellent analytical tools for monitoring
 Biosensors can be defined as analytical devices which include a combination of
biological detecting elements like sensor system and a transducer
 It is a device that detects, transmits and records information regarding a physiological
or biochemical change (D’Souza, 2001)
 Biosensors produce an output (electrical) which is proportional to the concentration of
biological analytes.
 A typical biosensor key words:
 Signal Conditioning
 Analyte
 Biological
 Detection
 Agent
 Transduce
Components of biosensor:

Schematic diagram
 Types of Biosensors
 According to bio- receptor used:
 Enzymes, Antibody/ antigens , Nucleic acids/complementary sequences.
Microorganisms, animal or plant whole cells and tissue slices
 Depending on the method of signal transduction:
 Electrochemical (Amperometric, Potentiometric or Conductometric), Optical,
Magnetic , Micromechanical , Thermometric and Piezoelectric
 Biosensors classification
 Biosensors classification based on biorecognition system.
 Biological elements used in biosensor technology:
 1. Enzymes, antibody/ antigens and nucleic acids/complementary sequences
 2. Microorganisms, animal or plant whole cells and tissue slices, can also be
 incorporated in the biosensing system.
 Classification based on the method of signal transduction
 electrochemical (amperometric, potentiometric or conductometric), optical,
thermometric and piezoelectric
 Components of Biosensors
 Analyte: material to be detected/ substance to be measured.
 E.g. Glucose, oxygen , carbon, phosphate (small molecules)etc and amino acids,
antibodies (macro molecules).
 Receptor (Sensor): sensing element that responds to the element to be measured.
 E.g.: enzymes, antibody, cells (biological material)
 The bio-receptor being purified enzymes or whole cells directly immobilized on a
transducer
 Interaction between analyte and receptor is highly selective.
 Transducer : The device that convert physical or chemical changes produced by
interaction of analyte and receptor reactions to electronic signal whose magnitude is
directly proportional to the amount of analyte.
 E.gs: 1.Electrochemical (potentiometric, voltametric, conductimetric)
2.Physical Biosensors: Piezoelectric biosensor and thermometric biosensor.
3. Optical
4. Wearable Biosensors
 Wearable biosensor: is a digital device, used to wear on the human body in
different wearable systems like smart watches, smart shirts, tattoos which
allows the levels of blood glucose, BP, the rate of heartbeat, etc
 Voltametric: current id measured in DC and AC
 Potentiometric: Potential is measured (Reference and working electrodes)
 CHEMFET: chemically sensitized field effective transistors
 Electrochemical Sensors

 Potentiometric : These involve the measurement of the emf (potential) of a cell at

zero current. The emf is proportional to the logarithm of the concentration of the
substance being determined.
 Amperometric : An increasing (decreasing) potential is applied to the cell until
oxidation (reduction) of the substance to be analyzed occurs and there is a sharp
rise (fall) in the current to give a peak current. The height of the peak current is
directly proportional to the concentration of the electroactive material. If the
appropriate oxidation (reduction) potential is known, one may step the potential
directly to that value and observe the current.
 Conductometric: Most reactions involve a change in the composition of the solution.
This will normally result in a change in the electrical conductivity of the solution,
which can be measured electrically.
 Optical Biosensors Sensing
Principle
 They link changes in light intensity to changes in mass or
concentration, hence, fluorescent or colorimetric molecules must
be present.
 LED
 Photodetector
 Finger
 IR light
 Various principles and methods are used :
 Optical fibres, surface plasmon resonance,Absorbance,
Luminescence
Piezoelectric Sensors

 What is piezoelectricity ?
 Strain causes a redistribution of charges and results in a net
electric dipole (a dipole is kind of a battery!)
 A piezoelectric material produces voltage by distributing charge
(under mechanical strain/stress)
 Principle of detection
 The specific binding of the analyte of interest to the complementary
bio-recognition element immobilized on a suitable support matrix .
 The specific interaction results in a change in one or more physico-
chemical properties (viz. pH change, electron transfer, mass changes,
heat transfer, uptake or release of gases or specific ions)
 Which can be detected and measured by the transducer
 To produce an electronic signal, which is proportional to the
concentration of a specific analyte or group of analytes, to which the
biosensing element binds.
Biosensors : General Applications
 Environmental and bioprocess control,
 Environmental control and monitoring, biosensors can provide fast
and specific data of contaminated sites
 Quality control of food, agriculture, military, and, particularly,
medical applications.
 commercially available biosensor systems are applied in the
clinical and pharmaceutical markets.
 In the food industry, the detection of contaminants
 Defense tool through the early detection of hazardous materials
such as germs or chemical warfares
 Biosensors used in Environmental Pollution monitoring
 Gas biosensors- Sulphur dioxide, Methane, Carbon dioxide
 Microbial biosensors –
1.Thiobacillus - SO2,
2. Methane - Methalomonas.
3. Pseudomonas - Carbon dioxide
• Immunoassay biosensors- Triazines, Malathion and Carbamates
• BOD biosensor- (BOD) - detect the levels of organic pollution. This requires five days of
incubation but a BOD biosensor using the yeast Trichosporon cutaneum with oxygen probe
takes only 15 minutes to detect organic pollution.
Miscellaneous biosensors- A graphite electrode with Cynobacterium and Synechococcus -
electron transport inhibition during the photosynthesis due to certain pollutants e.g.
herbicides. • Biosensors to detect polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated
hydrocarbons and certain other organic compounds.
• Biosensors employing acetylcholine esterase which can be obtained from bovine RBC
can be used for the detection of organophosphorus compounds in water
 Use of Biosensors In Detection of Envt.
Pollution
 Toxicity assays :Microtox or Tox Alert - are based on the use of
luminescent bacteria, Vibrio fischeri. Bacterial bioluminescence has
proved to be a convenient measure of cellular metabolism - a reliable
sensor.
 Cellsense: which is an amperometric sensor that incorporates
Escherichia coli bacterial cells for rapid ecotoxicity analysis.
 Cell sense - investigate the toxicity of 3,5-dichlorophenol and other
phenols in wastewater for the determination of nonionic surfactants
and benzene sulfonate compounds for the analysis of wastewater
treatment.
 Cell sense - one of the newer rapid toxicity assessment
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

 Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) : environmental pollutants widely

used as industrial chemicals, particularly as dielectric fluids in
electrical transformers and capacitors.
 • The high toxicity of some PCB congeners represents a risk for
public health
 • Different biosensor for PCBs detection in the environment:
e.g. The DNA biosensor with chronopotentiometric detection and
various immunosensors with fluorescence and
electrochemical detection principles
 Dioxins
 Dioxins :
 Released as by-products of chemical processes involving chlorine
 Production of some pesticides, the manufacture of PVC plastics, the
chlorine bleaching of pulp and paper and waste incineration
 Conventional dioxins analysis requires laborious multistep clean-up
procedures that increase the cost of each analysis.
 A significant number of immunoassays for dioxins have been developed
in an effort to provide simplified and routine analysis.
 The Surface plasmon resonance (SPR ) biosensors used for
determination of PCB was also used for determination of the dioxin
2,3,7,8-TCDD (biosensor developed by Shimomura et al. )
 Biosensor for detection of dioxin-poly- halogenated dioxins, furans, and
biphenyls: Arecombinant mouse hepatoma cell line (characterized and
optimized by Pasini et al.)
 Pesticide determination
 Enzymatic sensors: based on the inhibition of a selected enzyme
 Detection of organophosphorous and carbamate pesticides: Based on
the inhibition of acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) and Colin oxidase
 Biosensors based on Photosystem II (PSII) : able to detect herbicides in
the environment. About 30 % of herbicides, including phenyl urea,
triazine, and phenolic herbicides, inhibit photosynthetic electron flow by
blocking the PSII quinone-binding site and thus modify chlorophyll
fluorescence
 Determination of 2,4-D in water : piezoelectric immunosensor built on a
flow-through cell (limit of detection around 0.2 µg/l )
 Why immobilization?
 Biomolecules have poor stability in solutions hence it is necessary to stabilize them
by immobilization.
 Thus immobilization plays a key role in developing stable biocomponent for
integration with transducers
 The main features of biosensors: stability, cost, sensitivity, and reproducibility.
 Advantages
 Biosensors also promise highly sensitive, rapid, reproducible and simple-to
operate analytical tools.
 The selectivity of the biological sensing element offers an opportunity for the
development of highly specific devices for real-time analysis in complex mixtures,
 without the need for extensive sample pre-treatment or large sample volumes