BIOSENSOR
By –Lovnish Thakur
Enrollment No-ASU2014010100099
Course- Bioanalytical & Separation Technique(BSBT-202)

WHAT IS A BIOSENSOR?
Biosensors are analytical tools for the analysis of
biomaterial samples to gain an understanding of
their biocomposition, structure and function by
converting a biological response into a
measurable response.

FATHER OF BIOSENSORS
Professor Leland C Clark

COMPONENTS

ELEMENTS OF BIOSENSOR

THE ANALYTE
Molecule which do you want to detect
• Protein, toxin, peptide, vitamin, sugar, metal
ion

BIORECEPTOR
• The sensitive biological element-a biologically
derived material or biomimetic component
that interacts (binds or recognizes) the analyte
under study.

TRANSDUCER
• A transducer is more generally defined as a
device which converts energy from one form
to another.

ELECTRICAL INTERFACES
The detector element (works in a physicochemical
way; optical, piezoelectric, electrochemical, etc.)
that transforms the signal resulting from the
interaction of the analyte with the biological
element into electrical signal form.

ELECTRONIC SYSTEM
Combination of electronic devices i.e. Amplifier,
signal processer and display device that are
primarily responsible for the display of the
results in a user-friendly way.

WORKING PRINCIPLE
Analyte diffuses from the solution to the surface of the Biosensor
Analyte reacts specifically & efficiently with the Biological
Component of the Biosensor.
This reaction changes the physicochemical properties of the
transducer surface.
This leads to a change in the optical/electronic properties of the
transducer Surface.
The change in the optical/electronic properties is measured/
converted into electrical signal, which is detected.

ADVANTAGES
Highly Specific.
Easy to Use, Durable.
Require only Small Sample Volume.
Rapid, Accurate, Stable & Sterilizable.

TYPES OF BIOSENSORS
 Electrochemical biosensor
 Optical biosensor
 Thermal biosensor
 Resonant biosensor
 Ion-sensitive biosensor

APPLICATIONS OF BIOSENSORS
• Food Analysis
• Study of biomolecules and their interaction
• Drug Development
• Crime detection
• Medical diagnosis(both clinical and laboratory use)
• Environmental field monitoring
• Quality control
• Industrial Process Control
• Detection systems for biological warfare agents
• Manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and replacement organs

EXAMPLE

Sucrose Biosensor
Sucrose is an essential part of any fruit, so estimating
the concentration of sucrose at different maturity
levels could help in identifying the ripening
parameters of fruits.
 Therefore, with regard to sucrose detection,
 electrodes made up of invertase, mutarotase and
glucose oxidase and mediated tri-enzyme electrode
based on sucrose phosphorylase and electrocatalytic
oxidation of NADH, have been used.
 The sucrose sensor developed was based on the
invertase, mutarotase and glucose oxidase reaction
scheme

agridr.in

DNA-based piezoelectric biosensor
• A DNA sequence with a few hundred base
pairs usually possesses a sufficiently high
molecular weight so that the mass increase
caused by hybridization of a DNA-chain with
its complimentary counterpart previously
immobilized on the surface of a piezoelectric
quartz crystal may be specifically correlated
with the increase in the fundamental
resonance frequency of the crystal.

Reference
• www.pitt.edu/~super4/360137001/36421.ppt
• http://www.cse.unt.edu/~smohanty/Publicati
ons_Journals/2006/MohantyIEEEPotentials20
06Mar-Apr.pdf
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosensor
• http://www.sirebi.org/open/Intro_Biosensing.
pdf