High Sensitivity/Throughput Biosensor for Bioagent Detection and Identification

The proliferation of the contagious Bioagents (BAs) and its lag feature (time lagged between a biological attack and the appearance of symptoms) requires very high sensitivity instruments for early detection of such threats. The complex and rapidly changing environmental background would inhibit accurate identification of the lethal BAs therefore cause an increase of the false-alarm rate. Consequently, bio-sensors that provide very high degree of specificity are essential and highly desirable. The fast response rate of the sensing instrument is another important factor in order to reduce the casualty and the area of containment. In addition to these challenges, making such biological sensor instrument more compact and have user-friendly interface is also critical for battle field operation. Recent advances in bioassay (bio-chips) technology have opened a great opportunity for developing a novel compact bio-sensor microsystem that addresses and overcomes above challenges . The High Throughput Screening (HTS) immunoassay technology can now be used as an effective sensing mechanism for massive biological agent detections. Specifically, using a large matrix of various receptors in a high throughput nanosensor array combined with advanced detection methods and signal analysis will enable construction of BA sensor instrument with characteristics necessary for military systems applications.