Prof. Laura M. Lechuga in special 50th anniversary issue of Photonics Spectra

Prof. Laura M. Lechuga, leader of the ICN2 Nanobiosensors and Bioanalytical Applications Group, were was featured in a recent article in Photonics Spectra magazine on the rise and promise of integrated photonics in medicine and the life sciences. The group’s innovative nanophotonic biosensor has applications in early cancer detection, as well in environmental pollution warning.

The key challenges faced by lab-on-a-chip sensors are to make them sensitive enough to be able to detect the target compound in just a few drops of the sample, and selective enough to be able to do so without requiring the sample to be pre-cleaned or conditioned. This is where nanophotonic biosensors come in. They offer highly-sensitive sensing capabilities that can detect biomarkers or environmental pollutants at extremely low concentrations.

In this special 50th anniversary issue of Photonics Spectra, the nanophotonic biosensor developed by the Nanobiosensors and Bioanalytical Applications Group, led by Prof. Laura M. Lechuga, is cited as an example of this kind of device. Their Bimodal Waveguide interferometer (BiMW) has already shown promise in the early detection of colorectal cancer and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis or sepsis. As part of the European project BRAAVOO it is also finding use in sea pollutant monitoring.

More information of these and other applications can be found in the full article.