Translational Demonstration – Demonstration of the Transmission, Reflection, and Intensity (TRI)-Analyzer Instrument for Portable Spectroscopy

Abstract

A low-cost, smartphone-based spectrometer for biosensing applications has been developed that can perform three common modalities of spectroscopic analysis: transmission (as used in ELISA and various colorimetric assays), reflection (typically from planar plasmonic resonance sensors), and intensity (as found with fluorescence, bioluminescence, and chemiluminescence tests). This TRI-Analyzer has been built for a prototype-cost of $550, and is primarily made of a 3D-printed cradle that holds a custom bifurcated fiber optic assembly, off-the-shelf optical components, and slides onto the back of a smartphone to make use of its rear-facing camera. Transitioning between modalities is accomplished with low-cost cartridges made of various combinations of dyed, laser-cut acrylic sheet and double-sided adhesive, and the push of a slider that introduces an additional lens to the optical path. Recent experiments using the TRI-Analyzer system will be presented in session X, including comparative performance of the developed device with that of a normal benchtop analyzer for two commercial assays for maternal and child health biomarkers. In this showcase we will demo the TRI-Analyzer system with prepared sample cartridges with food coloring (transmission), a photonic crystal film (reflection) and laser dye (intensity) to illustrate both its flexibility and ease-of-use. We hope this will move us closer to the concept of a point-of-care (POC) laboratory, as opposed to an individual POC-test