# Development of a low cost, label-free, and highly sensitive optical cavity-based biosensor for point-of-care diagnostics

> **NIH NIH R15** · BAYLOR UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $420,000

## Abstract

Project Summary
Each year, millions of people around the world suffer and die from diseases such as cancers, infectious diseases,
and cardiovascular diseases. Early detection and the ability to closely monitor the status of the disease are
critical for medical professionals seeking to help diseased patients. The early detection of diseases not only
helps patients to receive proper treatment and increases the chance of full recovery but also is important to
reduce the economic impact due to treatment costs and output losses. The importance of early detection has
been widely recognized recently as we fight against the current global outbreak of coronavirus disease 19
(COVID-19). Point-of-care (POC) biosensors could allow patients to regularly check their health condition at the
bedside or near them without being dependent on the central laboratory testing. Effective POC biosensors would
be low cost and would have label-free operation, high sensitivity, high specificity, multiplexability (i.e., ability to
detect multiple analytes in a sample fluid simultaneously), a short turnaround time, and quantitative detection.
However, current diagnostic technologies are not suitable to be used as POC biosensors and the various optical
biosensors developed still have drawbacks for POC use.
 The long-term goal of the PI is to develop a POC biosensor with all the required characteristics. To
achieve this goal, the PI and his team have developed an Optical Cavity-based Biosensor (OCB) with a
differential detection method. An optical resonator structure is inherently attractive for the biosensing application
due to its label-free operation and resonant characteristics. The innovative aspect of our OCB is the use of low-
cost components with enhanced sensitivity by employing a differential detection method. Recently, we were able
to successfully demonstrate low-cost, label-free, and portable characteristics of the OCB. The limit of detection
(LOD) we were able to achieve was 377 picomolar (pM) for the C-reactive protein (CRP) molecules. The main
goal of this proposal is to improve the LOD of the OCB. We will investigate three different strategies for improving
the LOD in our OCB. The proposed research could have substantial significance in the medical diagnosis field,
it will strengthen the research environment of Baylor University, and it will provide opportunities for
undergraduate students to be involved in the research project. In Aim 1, we will attempt to improve the LOD by
using an improved optical cavity structure and equation used for the differential detection method. In Aim 2, we
will investigate different silanization processes using vapor-phase and solution-phase deposition of 3-
aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). Finally, in Aim 3, we will develop proper dispensing and incubation
processes for a picoliter fluid dispenser to create a smaller sensing area and investigate the LODs of the OCB
with various sensing areas. In the end, we anticipate achieving...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10439062
- **Project number:** 1R15GM146233-01
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Seunghyun Kim
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $420,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-06-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10439062

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10439062, Development of a low cost, label-free, and highly sensitive optical cavity-based biosensor for point-of-care diagnostics (1R15GM146233-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10439062. Licensed CC0.

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