Diagnostics 2012, 2(4), 97-106; doi:10.3390/diagnostics2040097
Detection of Dissolved Lactose Employing an Optofluidic Micro-System
1
Institute for Microsensors, Actuators and Systems (IMSAS), Microsystems Center Bremen (MCB), University of Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee NW1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
2
Institute of Sensor and Actuator Systems, Vienna University of Technology, Gusshausstrasse 27-29,E366, 1040 Vienna, Austria
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 2 October 2012 / Revised: 26 November 2012 / Accepted: 3 December 2012 / Published: 6 December 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidic Lab-on-a-Chip Platforms for High-Performance Diagnostics)
Abstract
In this work, a novel optofluidic sensor principle is employed for a non-invasive and label-free characterization of lactose containing liquid samples. Especially for medicine and food industry, a simple, fast and accurate determination of the amount of lactose in various products is highly desirable. The presented system exploits the impact of dissolved molecules on the refractive index for sample characterization. On the optofluidic chip, a microfluidic channel filled with the analyte is hit by slightly diverging laser light. The center incident angle of the beam on-chip is set close to the critical angle for total internal reflection. Both the reflected and the transmitted light signals are recorded at the solid-liquid interface. The ratio of those two signals is then used as representative value for the analyte. Using this principle, lactose containing samples were differentiated based on their concentrations at a step size of 10 mmol/L. The use of the signals ratio instead of a single signal approach improves the stability of the system significantly, allowing for higher resolutions to be achieved. Furthermore, the fabrication of the devices in PDMS ensures biocompatibility and provides low absorbance of light in the visible range.Keywords:
lactose detection; non-invasive; label-free; optofluidics; partial total internal reflection
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MDPI and ACS Style
Weber, E.; Keplinger, F.; Vellekoop, M.J. Detection of Dissolved Lactose Employing an Optofluidic Micro-System. Diagnostics 2012, 2, 97-106.
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