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Biochip Measures Glucose in Saliva, Not Blood

By Guest PostJanuary 22, 2012Sciencealec roelke, americans, biochip, biological device, blood, brown university, chip, convergence, diabetics, domenico pacifici, environmental substances, glucose concentration, glucose levels, grooves, human hair, human saliva, interaction of electrons, interference, jing feng, light, light intensity, maxima and minima, measure, microfluidic channels, milligrams per deciliter, Nanotechnology, ocean waves, photons, plasmonic interferometers, steve rhieu, surface plasmon polariton, surface plasmon waves, surface plasmonics, tayhas palmore, vihang mehta, vince siu, wavelength

*Engineers at Brown University have designed a biological device that can measure glucose concentrations in human saliva. The technique could eliminate the need for diabetics to draw blood to check their glucose levels. The biochip uses plasmonic interferometers and could be used to measure a range of biological and environmental substances. Results are published in Nano Letters.*

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — For the 26 million Americans with diabetes, drawing blood is the most prevalent way to check glucose levels. It is invasive and at least minimally painful. Researchers at Brown University are working on a new sensor that can check blood sugar levels by measuring glucose concentrations in saliva instead.

The technique takes advantage of a convergence of nanotechnology and surface plasmonics, which explores the interaction of electrons and photons (light). The engineers at Brown etched thousands of plasmonic interferometers onto a fingernail-size biochip and measured the concentration of glucose molecules in water on the chip. Their results showed that the specially designed biochip could detect glucose levels similar to the levels found in human saliva. Glucose in human saliva is typically about 100 times less concentrated than in the blood. (more…)

Sharpening The Nanofocus: Berkeley Lab Researchers Use Nanoantenna to Enhance Plasmonic Sensing

By Guest PostMay 23, 2011Scienceantenna enhanced gas sensing, berkeley lab, biochemical agents, biosensing, catalytic processes, chemical or biological events, confinement of electromagnetic waves, double electron beam lithography, german ministry of research, Germany, gold nanoantenna, harald giessen, laura na liu, localized surface plasmon resonance, lspr, mario hentschel, metallic nanostructures, ming tang, nanocatalysts, nanofocus, nanoreactors, optical detection, palladium nanoparticle, particle level, paul alivisatos, plasmonics, plasmons, university of california, university of stuttgart, wavelength

Such highly coveted technical capabilities as the observation of single catalytic processes in nanoreactors, or the optical detection of low concentrations of biochemical agents and gases are an important step closer to fruition. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), in collaboration with researchers at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, report the first experimental demonstration of antenna-enhanced gas sensing at the single particle level. By placing a palladium nanoparticle on the focusing tip of a gold nanoantenna, they were able to clearly detect changes in the palladium’s optical properties upon exposure to hydrogen. (more…)

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Biochip Measures Glucose in Saliva, Not Blood

Sharpening The Nanofocus: Berkeley Lab Researchers Use Nanoantenna to Enhance Plasmonic Sensing