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Spore Detection in Air and Fluid Using Micro-cantilever Sensors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Angelica P. Davila ,
Amit Gupta ,
Tom Walter ,
Demir Akin ,
Arthur Aronson  and
Rashid Bashir
Angelica P. Davila
Affiliation:
apdavila@purdue.edu, Purdue University, Electrical and Computer Engineering, 465 Northwestern Ave., West Lafayette, IN, 47907, United States
Amit Gupta
Affiliation:
agupta@ecn.purdue.edu, Purdue University, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, United States
Tom Walter
Affiliation:
twalter@bilbo.bio.purdue.edu, Purdue University, Department of Biological Sciences, United States
Demir Akin
Affiliation:
akin@ecn.purdue.edu, Purdue University, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, United States
Arthur Aronson
Affiliation:
aronson@purdue.edu, Purdue University, Department of Biological Sciences, United States
Rashid Bashir
Affiliation:
bashir@purdue.edu, Purdue University, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, United States
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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to report on our work to develop a real-time monitoring device by using micro-cantilevers for the mass detection of biological organisms in air and fluid. The biological agent used was Bacillus anthracis Sterne spore. The experiment was conducted using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) to measure the resonant frequency of the thermal noise cantilevers and the corresponding decrease in frequency as a result of the added mass. Moreover, the added mass attributed to the spores was quantified and compared in air and deionized (DI) water. The silicon cantilevers used in this study were of lengths ranging from 25 μm to 50 μm, 200 nm thick and a width of approximately 9 μm. The first part of the experiment consisted of suspending spores onto the cantilevers in fluid, drying the cantilevers, performing measurements in air and extracting the mass of the added spores. The average mass of a spore in air was 367 fg. The second part of the experiment utilized antibody and bovine serum albumin (BSA) physically adsorbed onto the cantilevers in order to fix the spores on the surface during the measurements in deionized water. The extracted mass of a spore in fluid was measured to be an average of 1.85 pg. This study demonstrated the ability to detect biological samples not only in air but also in a liquid environment.

Keywords

biologicalsensormicroelectro-mechanical (MEMS)
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 888: Symposium V – Materials and Devices for Smart Systems II , 2005 , 0888-V10-07
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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References

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