Toxic substances in the environment pose a significant threat to humans. To monitor, control and reduce exposure to this health hazard, and to identify individuals needing treatment who have unknowingly been exposed to it, sensitive testing apparatus need to be developed. THis need could be met with biosensors which make use of the selective functionality of biological molecules to detect and quantify these toxins. Biosensors are analytical devices which are capable of detecting toxins with high specificity and which generate an electronic signal proportional to the quantity of toxin present. Most existing biosensors are large, expensive and limited by poor environmental stability and high unit failure rates. These deficiencies can be overcome using a sensor designed to probe the structural alterations in the bioreceptor as it complexes with a toxin directly using infrared spectroscopy. The research proposed in this effort intends to demonstrate that a novel biosensing technique, which combines mid-infrared fiber-optic technology with infrared difference spectroscopy, can be used to detect a wide range of toxin detectors. Phase I research will focus on fabricating and testing infrared fiber-optic probes coated with relevant toxin bioreceptors. It will also examine the sensitivity with which these probes can discern substance levels and examine signal processing and pattern recognition techniques that can be applied to enhance its resolution.
