ImmunoSens - Immune sensor platform

The diagnosis of infectious diseases like sepsis generally requires laboratory analyses, costly equipment and is time consuming. A very promising approach for rapid medical testing, potentially even outside of clinics, is the use of waveguide based evanescent field photonic sensors. The sensor concept relies on the binding of an antigen to an antibody immobilized on the sensor surface, causing a detectable change in the effective refractive index of the waveguide. State-of-the-art photonic sensor systems are typically limited to controlled laboratory environments and expensive benchtop-type tunable lasers, prohibiting a widespread use in diagnostics. The goal of this project is to develop a fully integrated, disposable photonic immunosensor suitable for cost effective mass production, enabling rapid testing for point of care application.