Fibre-optic-based fluoroimmunosensors

Remote sensing of chemicals can be performed using fibre optic chemical sensors that use immunochemical reagent phases. Exploiting the specificity of antibody-antigen interactions and the sensitivity of laser-excited fluorimetry, highly selective measurements of ultra-trace levels of chemicals can be performed remotely and in situ via fluoroimmunoassay techniques. In this work, heterogeneous assay protocols using immunobeads are implemented. A passive sensor that samples analyte by diffusion through a permeable membrane and is capable of a single analysis is described and used for the measurement of a naturally fluorescent compound. Subsequently, a regenerable sensor that can perform assay procedures in a repetitive fashion is described and characterized. The versatility of this sensor for performing remote measurements using a variety of established fluoroimmunoassay methodologies is discussed.