PLASMONIC SENSORS FOR DISEASE DETECTION

By Mahima Tyagi,
Roll No. 18/MAP/006,
M.Sc. Applied Physics (1st Semester)
School of Vocational Studies and Applied Sciences
Gautam Buddha University.
Introduction:
Surface plasmons are coherent oscillations of conduction electrons on a metal surface excited by
electromagnetic radiation at a metal-dielectric interface. The growing field of research on such light-
metal interactions is known as ‘plasmonics’. This branch of research has attracted much attention in
medical diagnostics and therapeutics. In addition to know about the geometry and optical properties
of nanostructures various strategies for modifying the surfaces of these materials make it possible to
effect the selective binding and detection of specific targets for chemical and biological sensing. Two
types of plasmon resonances used in surface-based sensing are 1.) Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)
and 2.) Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPRs). These plasmons propagate hundreds of
micrometres along the metal surface with an associated electric field that decays from the surface,
normal to the dielectric-metal interface changes in the refractive index above the metal shifts the
plasmon resonance condition, which can be detected as intensity, wavelength, or angle shifts in
sensing applications.

Localised Surface plasmon, the most common materials used are gold and silver, although other
metals such as copper and aluminum also exhibit plasmon resonance. When the incident
electromagnetic field matches that of the oscillating electrons on the surface of the nanoparticle, a
resonance condition is met. This resonant oscillation produces large wavelength that results in
increase in absorption, scattering, and electromagnetic field at the nanoparticle surface. The
increases in absorption and scattering have been utilized towards LSPR biosensing. LSPR produces a
strong resonance absorbance peak in the visible range of light, with its position being highly sensitive
to the local refractive index surrounding the particle.In this case the light interacts with particles much
smaller than the incident wavelength.

Schematic diagram illustrating the localised surface plasmon on a nanoparticle surface

These properties of LSPRs allow us an ultra-sensitive detection of biological analytes with

applications in medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and food safety. In this article I shall
now focus to give a brief description in development of plasmonic resonance in diagnosing of
various diseases, mainly cancer.
Detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) for colon cancer and prostate
specific antigen for prostate cancer:
The sensor has been proven reliable to detect the presence of the cancer biomarker*
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) to the magnitude of 1 nanogram per ml. Most humans carry at least
some amounts of CEA with an average range of 3-5 nanograms per ml. The CEA is chosen because
its presence in higher concentrations is an early indicator of many forms of cancer, including lung and
prostate cancers. The plasmonic sensor is an improvement of the current method as it is able to
improve the limit of detection by at least two orders of magnitude. In fact, most methods aren't able to
accurately detect the presence of CEA until it reaches a higher concentration.
Plasmonic sensing detects sensitive nanoscale light-matter interactions with biomolecules on the
device surface and produces an enhanced localized field. Because of the plasmonic structure, the
photons escape more efficiently as the surrounding refractive index changes.
As the concentration of CEA increases, so does the refractive index, which produces an increase of
the transmission intensity at a fixed wavelength that can be easily detected.

* A biomarker is a molecule secreted by a tumor or a specific response of the body to the presence
of cancer.
Detection of surface antigen (HBsAg) for hepatitis B:
In detection of Hepatitis B plasmonic is used since the are in nanoscale and have a large surface
area, the size of particles and their high sensitivity compared to surface-based approaches. Since
there is a small shift in LSPR shift because of the Assays*, as there the analyte molecule is directly
confined on the nanoparticle surface. Therefore, we need some absorbance spectroscopy setup to
enable detection which can be performed by a plate reader. For direct identification of physiological
fluids, it is better to use the infrared region of the spectrum where light penetration is maximum.
The LSPR shift occurs in the 700-750 nm, which allowed sensitive detection in physiological
solutions. The HBsAg was detected using a monoclonal antibody conjugated to the surface of AuNRs,
the AuNR biosensor could measure the HBsAg concentration.

Absorption spectrum showing red shift after addition of analyte

Detection of Human Epidermal Receptor protein-2 (HER2) for breast cancer:

As we know that SPR is being used for detection of tumor, it presents some experimental difficulties
which were corrected by using incorporating Nano-hole arrays in metallic films. In this method there
is superior optical transmission, which is used to check bio interactions on the plasmonic metal
surface. This biosensor has good sensitivity. For the detection of the HER2 antigen, the surface was
coated with AB1* and then, the HER2 antigen was immobilized after which the AB2* antigen was
added on the surface. The use of a secondary antibody improved the sensitivity of the sensor. As the
molecules are immobilized on the surface, the refractive index on the metal-dielectric interface
increases, leading to a redshift.

*Assays is the testing of a metal or ore to determine its ingredients and quality.

*AB1 and AB2 are biotinylated antibody.

Conclusion:
In this article I have tried to explain the use of plasmonic sensors in disease detection which is very
helpful because of its highly sensitive detection using which we can detect the disease in an early
stage, before becoming it severe. Further advancements in the field of plasmonic could produce
better diagnostic platforms and systems which may play an important role in monitoring or
detection of disease.