Direct and label-free detection of the human growth hormone in urine by an ultrasensitive bimodal waveguide biosensor.

A label-free interferometric transducer showing a theoretical detection limit for homogeneous sensing of 5 × 10 RIU, being equivalent to a protein mass coverage resolution of 2.8 fg mm , is used to develop a high sensitive biosensor for protein detection. The extreme sensitivity of this transducer combined with a selective bioreceptor layer enables the direct evaluation of the human growth hormone (hGH) in undiluted urine matrix in the 10 pg mL range.

Label-free bimodal waveguide immunosensor for rapid diagnosis of bacterial infections in cirrhotic patients.

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis is an acute bacterial infection of ascitic fluid; it has a high incidence in cirrhotic patients and it is associated with high mortality. In such a situation, early diagnosis and treatment is crucial for the survival of the patient. However, bacterial analysis in ascitic fluid is currently based on culture methods, which are time-consuming and laborious.

A comparative study of in-flow and micro-patterning biofunctionalization protocols for nanophotonic silicon-based biosensors.

Reliable immobilization of bioreceptors over any sensor surface is the most crucial step for achieving high performance, selective and sensitive biosensor devices able to analyze human samples without the need of previous processing. With this aim, we have implemented an optimized scheme to covalently biofunctionalize the sensor area of a novel nanophotonic interferometric biosensor. The proposed method is based on the ex-situ silanization of the silicon nitride transducer surface by the use of a carboxyl water soluble silane, the carboxyethylsilanetriol sodium salt (CTES).

Nanophotonic lab-on-a-chip platforms including novel bimodal interferometers, microfluidics and grating couplers.

One of the main limitations for achieving truly lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices for point-of-care diagnosis is the incorporation of the "on-chip" detection. Indeed, most of the state-of-the-art LOC devices usually require complex read-out instrumentation, losing the main advantages of portability and simplicity. In this context, we present our last advances towards the achievement of a portable and label-free LOC platform with highly sensitive "on-chip" detection by using nanophotonic biosensors.

All-optical phase modulation for integrated interferometric biosensors.

We present the theoretical and the experimental implementation of an all-optical phase modulation system in integrated Mach-Zehnder Interferometers to solve the drawbacks related to the periodic nature of the interferometric signal. Sensor phase is tuned by modulating the emission wavelength of low-cost commercial laser diodes by changing their output power. FFT deconvolution of the signal allows for direct phase readout, immune to sensitivity variations and to light intensity fluctuations.