Sensitive detection of the concentrations for normal epithelial cells based on Fano resonance metamaterial biosensors in terahertz range

Appl Opt. 2019 Aug 10;58(23):6268-6273. doi: 10.1364/AO.58.006268.

Abstract

In this paper, we have cultured normal epithelial cells (HaCaT) as analytes to detect the sensitivity of a biosensor based on Fano resonance metamaterials (FRMMs). The frequency shift Δf of the transmission spectrum was experimentally measured at three different concentrations (0.2×105, 0.5×105, and 5×105 cell/ml) of HaCaT cells. By employing the FRMMs-based biosensor, the detection concentration of HaCaT cells can approximately arrive at 0.2×105 cell/ml; further, the corresponding Δf is 25 GHz, which reaches the measurement limit of the THz-TDS system. Additionally, the increase of HaCaT cell concentration causes a different redshift of Δf from 24-50 GHz, and the maximum of Δf can reach 50 GHz when the HaCaT cell concentration is at 5×105 cell/ml. Similarly, the simulated results show that the Δf depends on the numbers of analytes with a semiball shape and the refractive index of analytes. The theoretical sensitivity was calculated to be 481 GHz/RIU. The proposed FRMMs-based biosensor paves a fascinating platform for biological and biomedical applications and may become a valuable complementary reference for traditional biological research.

MeSH terms

  • Biosensing Techniques*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Epithelial Cells / cytology*
  • Humans
  • Optical Phenomena*