Fiber optic bio-sensor
First Claim
1. A sensor for sensing and/or monitoring at least one property associated with transformation of a biochemical analyte by at least one microorganism, said sensor comprising:
- at least one fibre optic member having at least one unclad portion;
a coating applied to the at least one unclad portion;
a precursor associated with the coating, said precursor transformable by the at least one microorganism;
wherein transformation of the precursor produces a spectroscopically detectable indicator of the at least one property.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A sensor for sensing and monitoring a property associated with transformation of a biochemical analyte by a micro-organism, the sensor comprising a glass permeable coating applied to an unclad portion (14) of a fibre optic member (13). The coating has a transformable precursor impregnated into it, the precursor being specifically metabolisable by one or more targeted organisms. When the sensor is placed in contact with a sample in a container (15) contacting an active targeted micro-organisms, the precursor is transformed by the micro-organisms to produce a spectroscopically detectable indicator of the property of the analyte. Spectroscopic information may be analysed by a computer program to provide an overall index of microbiological activity for the targeted micro-organism. The invention extends to a method of producing a sensor and a method of identifying the presence of a targeted micro-organism.
-
Citations
24 Claims
-
1. A sensor for sensing and/or monitoring at least one property associated with transformation of a biochemical analyte by at least one microorganism, said sensor comprising:
-
at least one fibre optic member having at least one unclad portion;
a coating applied to the at least one unclad portion;
a precursor associated with the coating, said precursor transformable by the at least one microorganism;
wherein transformation of the precursor produces a spectroscopically detectable indicator of the at least one property. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
6. The sensor of any one of the proceeding claims wherein the coating is a glass film.
-
7. The sensor of the proceeding claim wherein the glass film is both porous and thin.
-
8. The sensor of any one of the proceeding claims wherein the precursor is immobilised within the coating.
-
9. The sensor of the proceeding claim wherein the precursor comprises one or more of D-mannitol, carbol fuchsine, methylene blue, sucrose or other suitable compound.
-
11. A sensor system for sensing at least one property associated with transformation of a precursor by one or more microorganisms, said sensor system comprising:
-
a fibre optic member having at least one unclad portion of optic fibre;
a coating applied to the at least one unclad portion;
a precursor associated with the coating, said precursor transformable by at the one or more microorganisms;
a light source adapted to cooperate with a first end of the fibre optic member to provide input light to the fibre optic member; and
monitoring means adapted to cooperate with the unclad portion to detect an indicator signal in received light from the fibre optic member, said indicator signal indicative of the at least one property;
wherein transformation of the precursor by the one or more microorganisms produces the indicator signal by interaction with the input light to produce the received light.
-
-
12. The sensor system of claim 12 wherein interaction with the light is interactive with an evanescent wave form of the input light.
-
13. A method of producing a sensor, said method comprising the steps of:
-
decladding one or more sections of a core of a fibre optic member;
applying a coating to the one or more sections, said coating immobilising a precursor to a spectroscopically detectable indicator, the precursor transformable to the detectable indicator by the activity of one or more microorganisms.
-
-
20. A method of coating a sensor for sensing and/or monitor at least one property associated with transformation of a biochemical analyte by at least one microorganism, comprising steps of:
-
making a coating mixture by dispersing a precursor in a sol-gel solution;
wherein the precursor is transformable by the at least one microorganism; and
coating the sensor with the coating mixture;
wherein the sensor comprises at least one fiber optic member having at least one unclad portion, and the coating is preferably applied to the unclad portion. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
-
Specification