Early Detection of Bladder Cancer Using a Waveguide Array Biosensor

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Bladder cancer (BC) represents a major health problem throughout the world. It is estimated that in the United States, 73,510 men and women were diagnosed with BC and 14,880 died of the disease in 2012. Often, early diagnosis of cancer enhances survival rates and enables optimal risk assessment. One major problem for the diagnosis of BC is the lack of distinct symptoms associated with the disease, so it is necessary to rely on medical testing. To address this problem, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a Waveguide Array Biosensor (WABS) for early diagnosis of bladder cancer. The WABS system is based on a long period grating (LPG) array built on an integrated optical chip (IOC), which is coated with capture antibodies corresponding to a panel of urinary biomarkers of bladder cancer. WABS is a hybrid construction with an optical chip mounted onto a silicon substrate. The biosensor is fabricated using microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology. Th