Development of a miniaturized device for optical reading of the quantum semiconductor biosensor

In our experiments with semiconductor microstructures, such as those used for the fabrication of light emitting diodes (LED), our team has discovered that popular LED devices could also be used for the detection of micro-organisms that come in contact with the device. As a result of our almost 5 years of research, we have demonstrated the operation of an LED-like photonic biosensor capable of rapid (less than 2 hours) detection of E. coli. The significance of this discovery is that we can now design inexpensive LED-biochips (a standard LED costs less than 1$) that could be used for rapid detection of a variety of different bacteria or viruses. To take full advantage of this technology, and to create a portable, self-contained biosensing instrument, we have to miniaturize the LED emission-monitoring unit from its current 40 cm x 40 cm foot print to approximately 12 cm x 2.5 cm. This will require extensive engineering work, designing and testing, which we plan on completing in 3 years with the financial support of CRIBIQ and Mitacs.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Jan Dubowski

Student:

Dominic Lepage, Xiaohuan Huang, Srivatsa Aithal & other

Partner:

Photon Etc. Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

Université de Sherbrooke