Dielectrophoretic Raman Scattering Biosensor

To address the Army’s need for a diagnostic system capable of simultaneously detecting and identifying up to 100 militarily relevant pathogens/targets from human blood or serum samples, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to complete the development of a new Dielectrophoretic Raman Scattering Biosensor (DIRASBI) system. This system will be capable of label-free and reagent-free detection of pathogens through a unique combination of dielectrophoresis and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy in an integrated detection chip. DIRASBI is capable of simultaneously detecting up to 100 pathogens from a single blood/serum sample and can easily incorporate new pathogens. In Phase I, POC demonstrated the feasibility of DIRASBI by immobilizing multiple surrogate pathogens without the use of any analyte-specific reagents and identifying them without the use of any labels such as flurophores or chemophores. In Phase II, POC plans to develop a fully automated sample analysis system that detects the presence of multiple targeted pathogens in blood/serum samples in real time. This prototype will be lightweight, compact (<1 lb., <10 cu. in.), ruggedized and portable, will require no sample preparation and will offer low cost of ownership (<$2/sample). The DIRASBI system will include a self-cleaning system with automatic sample decontamination and user-friendly GUI enabling nonexpert use.