SEMINAR REPORT ON BIOSENSORS

Presented by: Faisal Ahmad B.E. 7th Semester Enroll. No.1122 Deptt. of ECE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am highly gratified to Almighty(the most beneficial and merciful) by whose grace I am at the present position. I would like to thank our Principal Dr. N.A. Shah for helping us from time to time. I would also like to thank our H.O.D. Mr. Ghulam Jeelani and seminar incharge Mr. Manzoor Mir for their suggestions and valuable guidance. I am also deeply indebted to my parents and friends for their affectionate encouragement and support all through my career.

Faisal Ahmad 7th Semester Deptt. of E & C

Parihaspora, Pattan

Certificate
This is to certify that Faisal Ahmad under Enrollment No.1122 of B.E. 7th Semester Electronics & Communication has successfully completed the seminar report entitled Biosensors for partial fulfillment to the award of Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics & Communication by University of Kashmir.

Seminar Incharge Mr. Manzoor Mir

HOD ECE Mr. Ghulam Jeelani

CONTENTS
Introduction History Recent Developments Definition of Biosensors Structure Features Applications Advantages & Disadvantages Conclusion Future of Biosensors

INTRODUCTION
Improvement of "life quality" is one of the most important objectives of global research efforts. Naturally, the quality of life is closely linked to the control of diseases, food quality and safety, and quality of our environment. In all these fields a continuous, fast and sensitive monitoring is required to control key parameters. The physician, environmental scientist, public health official, industrial chemist and battlefield commander often have an urgent need for precise measurements of minute quantities of substances in blood, water, food, or other materials. Securing precise measurements of minute quantities has traditionally required an extended time. Now, however, new hybrids of biological and electrochemical components seem likely to be the foundation of equipments providing highly precise, nearly instantaneous measurements of substances in blood, water, air, and soil. Workers in hazardous environments such as mining are continuously exposed to dynamic and unpredictable hazardous conditions. For instance, slipping and tripping hazards are created by mine conditions such as water, mud, uneven floors and mine floor obstacles. Moving machinery in the confined mine environment creates pinning and striking hazards. These environments also have limited visibility due to line-of-sight restrictions, poor lighting, airborne dust and smoke. Workers must be able to constantly monitor their hazardous environments in real time so that they can be aware of impending and existing dangers.

The youthful but rapidly developing device which promises to revolutionize analytical procedures is the Biosensor. Biosensors, which come in a large variety of sizes and shapes, are used to monitor changes in environmental conditions. They can detect and measure concentrations of specific bacteria or hazardous chemicals, they can measure acidity levels (pH), biosensors can use bacteria and detect them, too. Biosensors promise more than a mere streamlining of the slow, laborious process of identifying and measuring substances. They are the key to number of advances in medical and scientific technology. Researchers continue to exploit the potential of biosensors in speeding new drugs trials, monitoring and regulating time released medication, as well as the higher profile use of detecting toxic agents and explosives that are the deadliest weapon in the arsenals of terrorists and rogue states. Biosensors, combining a biological, recognition element and a suitable transducer, represent very promising tools in this context.

HISTORY
The idea for the first biosensor was conceived by Leland Clark in the 1960s and was based on trapping the enzyme glucose oxidase, which catalyses the oxidation of glucose, at an oxygen electrode using a dialysis membrane. The concentration of glucose present would then be proportional to the measured decrease in oxygen concentration. The biosensor itself developed around this idea would keep track of the electrons passed through the electrode during the reaction and measure the charge. This technique was later changed to one which measured hydrogen peroxide concentration instead, which is a product of the reaction. This change was made due to possible variation of oxygen concentration in the operating environment.

Three different generations of biosensors can be identified throughout the history of these devices. In the first generation, the oxygen, acting as an electron shuttle, diffused directly to the transducer and created the electrical response. Faster second- generation devices used an artificial electron mediator in place of oxygen to improve the response.

In third-generation devices, direct electron transfer from the reaction causes the response without any need for diffusion of product or mediator. Although the original biosensor design involved using an enzyme as the biological response element, many other systems have since been incorporated into biosensors, such as ligand binding and antigen-antibody reactions.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Now there are many developments with biosensors. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has just recently developed a biosensor that follows calcium ion levels. This could be very instrumental in detecting and diagnosing diseases and may be useful in areas of chemical warfare. This biosensor consists of an optical fiber to which is attached a synthesized hybrid molecule. One half of the hybrid molecule binds calcium ions and the other half fluoresces when calcium ions are bound to the molecule. Right now researchers at the National Cancer Institute are designing a biosensor that if injected in to the bloodstream will hunt for cancerous cells and destroy them. This will also enhance the care a doctor can give to a patient. The doctor will be able to more closely and accurately follow the patients reactions to therapy and they will also be able to get a better image of the cancerous cells. Learning that the cells surrounding cancerous cells experience many changes helped the researchers at NCI to be able to work with this biosensor. For example the cells in the mouth can be changed molecularly by tobacco and this might help predict that the person has lung cancer.

NASA is also working on a biosensor for cancer because in the year 2020 they plan to send humans to Mars. However, the trip is very damaging to the human body and could prove fatal. So in order to make this trip, something must be done to stop the effects of microgravity on the major systems of the body (skeletal, muscular, neural, and immune). Also there needs to be some means of detecting infections and diseases before they get out of control. A program just got started two years ago to do the research necessary to detect cancer early. NASA eventually wants to put a dose of medicine on the array of biosensors they are trying to make for this trip so that the diseases can be cured while in space. Which is a more effective method that just destroying the cells.

Technical Definition for Biosensors

Any detection device that incorporates a living component or product derived from living systems to provide an indication, signal or other form of recognition of the presence of a specific substance in the environment. The biological indicator or component of a biosensor may be an intact organism such as a sample of bacterium. A biosensor is a device for the detection of analyte that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector component. A biosensor is a device that detects records and transmits information regarding a physiological change or the presence of various chemicals or biological materials in the environment. More technically, a biosensor is a probe that integrates a biological component, such as whole bacterium or a biological product (e.g., an enzyme or antibody) with an electronic component to yield a measurable signal. The term 'biosensor' is often used to cover sensor devices used in order to

determine the concentration of substances and other parameters of biological interest even where they do not utilize a biological system directly, but it should be recognized that other biological systems may be utilized by biosensors, for example, whole cell metabolism, ligand binding and the antibody-antigen reaction. Biosensor consists of 3 parts:

the sensitive biological element (biological material (eg. tissue, microorganisms, organelles, cell receptors, enzymes, antibodies, nucleic acids, etc), a biologically derived material or biomimic) The sensitive elements can be created by biological engineering. These elements interact selectively with the target analyte, assuring the selectivity of sensors.

the transducer or 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 another signal (i.e., transducers) that can be more easily measured and quantified. The traditional transducers are electrochemical, optical and thermal. Electrochemical transducers measure changes in current or voltage; optical transducers measure changes in fluorescence, absorbance or reflectance; and acoustic transducers measure changes in frequency resulting from small changes in mass bound to their surface.

associated electronics or signal processors that is primarily responsible for the display of the results in a user-friendly way.

The selectivity of the biosensor for the target analyte is mainly determined by the biorecognition element, whilst the sensitivity of the biosensor is greatly influenced by the transducer.

STRUCTURE

Schematic diagram showing the main components of a biosensor is shown. The biocatalyst (a) converts the substrate to product. This reaction is determined by the transducer (b) which converts it to an electrical signal. The output from the transducer is amplified (c), processed (d) and displayed (e). The electrical signal from the transducer is often low and superimposed upon a relatively high and noisy (i.e: containing a high frequency signal component of an apparently random nature, due to electrical interference or generated within the electronic components of the transducer) baseline. The signal processing normally involves subtracting a reference baseline signal, derived from a similar transducer without any biocatalytic membrane, from the sample signal, amplifying the resultant signal difference and electrically filtering (smoothing) out the unwanted signal noise. The relatively slow nature of the biosensor response considerably eases the problem of electrical noise filtration. The analogue signal produced at this stage may be output directly but is usually converted to a digital signal and passed to a microprocessor stage where

the data is processed, converted to concentration units and output to a display device or data store.

FEATURES
A successful biosensor must possess at least some of the following beneficial features:
1.

The biocatalyst must be highly specific for the purpose of the analyses, be stable under normal storage conditions.

2.

The reaction should be as independent of such physical parameters as stirring, pH and temperature as is manageable.

3.

The response should be accurate, precise, reproducible and linear over the useful analytical range, without dilution or concentration. It should also be free from electrical noise.

4.

If the biosensor is to be used for invasive monitoring in clinical situations, the probe must be tiny and biocompatible, having no toxic or antigenic effects.

5.

The complete biosensor should be cheap, small, portable and capable of being used by semiskilled operators.

6.

There should be a market for the biosensor.

APPLICATIONS
There are many potential applications of biosensors of various types. The main requirements for a biosensor approach to be valuable in terms of research and commercial applications are the identification of a target molecule, availability of a suitable biological recognition element, and the potential for disposable portable detection systems to be preferred to sensitive laboratory-based techniques in some situations. Some examples are given below: Ring Sensor It is a pulse oximetry sensor that allows one to continuously monitor heart rate and oxygen saturation in a totally unobtrusive way. The device is shaped like a ring and thus it can be worn for long periods of time without any discomfort to the subject. The ring sensor is equipped with a low power transceiver that accomplishes bidirectional communication with a base station, and to upload data at any point of time. Each time the heart muscle contracts, blood is ejected from the ventricles and a pulse of pressure is transmitted through the circulatory system. This pressure pulse when traveling through the vessels, causes vessel wall displacement which is measurable at various points. In order to detect pulsatile blood volume changes by photoelectric method, photo conductors are used. Normally photo resistors are used, for amplification purpose photo transistors are used.

Light is emitted by LED and transmitted through the artery and the resistance of photo resistor is determined by the amount of light reaching it. With each contraction of heart, blood is forced to the extremities and the amount of blood in the finger increases. It alters the optical density with the result that the light transmission through the finger reduces and the resistance of the photo resistor increases accordingly. The photoresistor is connected as a part of voltage divider circuit and produces a voltage that varies with the amount of blood in the finger and voltage that closely follows the pressure pulse. Ring sensor is used for wireless supervision of people during hazardous operations e.g: military, fire fighting, overcrowded emergency. It is also used for monitoring the hypertension and chronic surveillance of abnormal heart failure. It can be used for continuous monitoring and is easy to use. Medical telesensor chip

A chip on your fingertip may someday measure and transmit data on your body temperature. An array of chips attached to your body may provide additional information on blood pressure, oxygen level, and pulse rate.

These chips may be attached at various points on a soldier using a nonirritating adhesive like that used in waterproof band-aids. These medical telesensors would send physiological data by wireless transmission to an intelligent monitor on another soldier's helmet. The monitor could alert medics if the data showed that the soldier's condition fit one of five levels of trauma. The monitor also would receive and transmit global satellite positioning data to help medics locate the wounded soldier.

Microcantilevers An interesting alternative to the optical fiber is the microcantilever, which measures the presence of substances by nonoptical methods. It can

act as a physical, chemical, or biological sensor by detecting changes in cantilever bending or vibrational frequency. Microcantilevers are a million times smaller but molecules adsorbed on a microcantilever cause vibrational frequency changes.
Schematic of a microcantilever sensor, which can be adapted to detect physical, chemical, or biological activity.

Viscosity, density, and flow rate can also be measured by detecting the changes in vibrational frequency. Another way of detecting molecular adsorption is by measuring curling of the cantilever due to adsorption stress on just one side of the cantilever. Because of the small size and;versatility of the microcantilever, arrays of sensors can be fabricated on a single chip to conceptually mimic the five sensory facilities: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Detecting Cancer and Health Abnormalities Another type of biosensor uses sophisticated technology to detect a specific trait or abnormality in a living organism. A new laser technique for nonsurgically determining whether tumors in the esophagus are cancerous or_benign. Of these biosensors, the most publicized is the optical biopsy sensor. In the past, determining accurately whether a patient has cancer of the esophagus has required surgical biopsy. However, our laser-based fluorescence method has eliminated the need for biopsy, reducing pain and recovery time for patients.

Miniaturized Devices

Another class of biosensors uses various techniques to turn a biological system into a tiny electronic device, to analyze biological or physiological processes, or to detect and identify bacteria. Some of these techniques produce or are carried out in miniaturized devices. The best known miniaturization feat is "lab on a chip". Body Sensors Wearable body sensor systems are available to continuously measure and monitor the physiological conditions of workers in real time. Body Media has produced a wearable body sensor system that acquires, analyzes, transmits and stores physiological data such as energy expenditure, duration of physical activity, number of steps, distance traveled, sleep/walk states, movement, heat flux, skin temperature and galvanic skin response. The system is used mainly as a health and

safety research tool. For instance, industries can use Body Media system to monitor the activity level and energy expenditure trends of their shift workers. The data obtained can be used to reduce job-related fatigue and improve the economic design of equipment. Fatigue is a significant health and safety hazard for shift workers in general, but it is of special concern for miners who must keep alert to recognize moving machinery hazards, slip hazards and potential falls of ground from the roof, ribs and back areas. The Body Media system has applications beyond that of a research tool. For instance, the system can monitor workers and alert them of potentially dangerous physiologic conditions from over-exertion. This same application crosscuts to first responders such as firefighters who while wearing protective equipment, expend large amounts of energy for sustained periods in hazardous atmospheres of heat and smoke. The Body Media system can also be used in person down applications. The physiological data can be used to indicate that a person has become incapacitated because of an accident or a health condition. The system would then wirelessly alert other workers or rescue personnel of the workers condition. Anthropometry Perhaps the most unusual biosensors are a new technique to measure human body surfaces. Such measurements, called anthropometry, are used by tailors, artists, and scientists. Its accuracy could facilitate the creation of clothes that fit.The accuracy of the measurements is within 1 mm. Application of biosensors in heavy metal detection

As environmental concentrations of heavy metals are reduced, increasing sensitive analytical methods are required to monitor their distribution. In this respect biosensors are useful analytical tools since they are able to monitor the available fraction of heavy metals, whish is considered to be the one that actually interacts with the biorecognition element (e.g. receptor, enzyme). A new biosensor to monitor explosives such as TNT and RDX has been developed by the US naval research laboratory. Environmental applications of biosensors Environmental applications e.g. the detection of pesticides and river water contaminants, Detection of pathogens. Other promising applications for environmental biosensors include groundwater monitoring, drinking water analysis, and the rapid analysis of extracts of soils and sediments at hazardous waste sites. Food Analysis Determination of drug residues in food, such as antibiotics and growth promoters, particularly meat and honey. Optical biosensors help spot bird-flu Current methods of identifying infected flocks suffer from a series of disadvantages such as high costs, long processing times and low sensitivity. On 1st September 2005 bird flu was declared to have out broken and it was conveniently spotted with help of optical biosensors. A low cost and portable optical waveguide sensor could help control avian influenza during an outbreak. Bioreporters

Yet another example of a biosensor is based on detection of light emitted by specially engineered microorganism that is involved in biomediation. Biomediation can be defined as any process that uses microorganisms or their enzymes to return the environment altered by contaminants to its original condition.

ADVANTAGES
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUP AC) is defining biosensors as a subgroup of chemical sensors in which a biologically based mechanism is used for analyte detection but these devices have several advantages over other sensors. Some of them can be mentioned as: One characteristic of biosensor that distinguishes them from other bioanalytical methods is that the analyte tracers or catalytic products can be directly and instantaneously measured. These devices are more accurate Continuous monitoring capability Biosensors can regenerate and reuse the immobilized biological recognition element.

Since biosensors are relatively small, they can be used separately or as

modular detectors in larger systems They can be used in remote areas to note changes regarding environment and in places where manual, monitoring is not safe. They can monitor changes at low concentrations.

 These devices are sensitive, inexpensive, stable and cost effective. Don't need to be used by professionals only. Different types based on different principles make it applicable in almost all fields.

DRAWBACKS
It is hard to find any drawback in any system as every system is made with the hope that it is the best one. As all systems have some drawbacks for this following can be: Biocompatibility and biofouling are critical issues in case of in-vivo measurements. All the products might be consumed if a subproduct of such form is produced. Reactions depend on reactants and if all the reactants are consumed the processing may stop.

The products might react with reactants and result ill some other

product that may be harmful ( usually occurs in biosensors involving whole cell)

CONCLUSION
Sensing systems in the form of burglar alarms, pressure sensors and medical diagnostic kits, etc., have been around for decades, but suddenly the sensor business seems ready to take a great leap forward. The drivers

for this growing market are very diverse. For example, concerns about national security are pushing the need, for sensors that warn against chemical or biological attacks or dangerous items hidden in luggage. In the transportation industry the need to make cars and planes safer, more fuel efficient and more comfortable for passengers is spawning new generations of mechanical and chemical sensors. In medicine, with its growing emphasis on early prevention, new biosensors and labs-on-a-chip offer an especially cost effective means of diagnosis. Meanwhile, the next big thing in computing will supposedly be pervasive computing in which always on mobile and fixed computers will process information from a myriad different sources including weather sensors and security sensors. Although the sensor market is so fragmented, nanotechnology has some unique capabilities that suggest that it will have a large impact in many of the market's most important segments. Nanosensors are inherently more sensitive than any other kind of sensor, making them a future choice where lives are at stake. In addition, their small size and potentially low cost means that they can be widely deployed -- perhaps being embedded in construction materials -- thereby providing more comprehensive readings than a few scattered "macrosensors". Nanotechnology also promises to create integrated devices that combine both the sensor itself and the mechanism that converts what is sensed into useful information.

Future prospects
Researchers agree that a number of problems must be solved before biosensors can fulfill their potential. These include the development of sensors that are biocompatible and will function safely and accurately for along periods of time while implanted in the human body. The human body is salty, hostile environment that attacks and destroys materials used

in biosensors-coating or encapsulating sensor tips, for example, so they fail after a relatively brief period. Another limitation of existing biosensors is that they generally are capable of monitoring only a single parameter. These "single-channel" devices, which monitor brood glucose but not gases, for example, would require inserting numerous individual sensors to get complete picture of a patient's blood chemistry. Researchers are trying to use microelectronics technology to develop sensors with the ability to measure a dozen or more parameters at the same time.

Future goals
There are future applications that make biosensors ideal input devices:Possible use of prosthetic limbs where just the bioelectric activity to the nerve endings of a missing limb could be used to control an artificial limb. In cases of paralysis, the nerves, prior to loss of transport ability or brainwaves might be electrically monitored for instructions to control/move a mechanical device attached to the paralyzed limb. Biosensors can measure muscle electrical activity, brain electrical activity, and eye movement. Biosensors are electrodes that sit on the. skin over the muscle or nerve being sampled. Eye movement, for example, is determined from biosensors placed strategically on the forehead and under the eyes." Electrical signals have many measurable qualities, including intensity and spectral characteristics. Energy is also measurable from a multitude of motor units. Just as the brain uses these signals to control functions of the human body, these signals can be detected by biosensors and then interpreted by software to control electronic devices external to the human body.

Taste and smell for robots Biosensors will likewise be the key to fabricating industrial robots endowed with a complete complement of the five human senses. Robotics research has focused primarily on robots with sisual and tactile capabilities and advances have been made in voice synthesis and recognition devices. Robots may now get the remaining two human senses-taste and smell from biosensors.

Using blue crab antennules Some of today's biosensors do utilize organisms or parts of organisms as the indicator e.g. a prototype biosensor from the antennules of the blue crab when attached to an electrode, the antennules are capable of detecting amino acids, the components, of proteins. It is believed. to be the first biosensor made from the intact sense organs of an animal that can detect substances in a solution. Scientists believe the approach may produce a biosensor capable of detecting the hormones and nucleotides that are the components of the genetic materials. DNA and RNA. Other biosensors are based on much smaller biological elements. The indicator usually is some functional product of living cells such as enzyme, cell surface receptors, or antibodies that react in a specific fashion with a specific agent in the environment.