SBIR Phase I: High Sensitivity Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging Bioarrays

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)Phase I project proposes to develop, fabricate and test a sensitive array chip sensor for monitoring biointeractions using the technique of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging. There are many methods to detect biomolecular interactions, but most require that one of the molecules be distinctly labeled using fluorescence or other approaches. Such labeling may inadvertently alter binding properties of the molecules. SPR based technologies have the distinct advantage of being label-free. However, despite continued improvement of SPR based instruments, the detection limit remains insufficient for applications that require the binding of small molecules. The vast majority of SPR instruments are also limited to a very small throughput of 4 channels or less. This project will address both of these limitations by employing a novel sensor array design based on the concept of long range surface plasmons. Numerous model binding experiments involving the attachment of small analytes to larger proteins immobilized on the sensor surface will be performed to assess the improved chip performance. The commercial applications of this project are very broad, ranging from detection of biological warfare agents and environmental monitoring to drug design and discovery.