14 Plasmonics and Super-Hydrophobicity
521
surprisingly, surgical biopsy remains the ‘gold standard’ for the clinical assessment
of the pathologic basis of disease. The morphologic presentation of tissue specimens
continues to be the backbone of diagnostic pathology; stills, this practice inherently
suffers from being predominately a qualitative art. The quality of diagnoses is still
entrusted with the pathologist’s experience and knowledge.
The past decade has seen tremendous progress in the development of original strategies, technologies, or both, that promise to overcome the limitations discussed above.
These include (i) the use of super-hydrophobicity for biological sample handling and
manipulation; (ii) the analysis of molecules, bio molecules or individual peptides
using mass spectrometry, Raman or other spectroscopies; (iii) micro and nano scale
devices with advanced sensing capabilities, and especially SERS devices. Although,
individually, the technologies above fostered important changes and progresses, the
latter were mostly limited to their specific, and often limited, fields of application.
The major advance, here, is that at least three different technologies are conveyed
into a single platform. From the combination of (i) to (iii) (and particularly from the
introduction of super hydrophobic devices), new properties and opportunities arise.
Biology does a lot with a little. Learning from nature, and inspired by the lotus
effect, we developed a new nanotechnology that, mimicking the morphology of the
lotus leaf, offer realistic possibilities to diagnosis tumours at their early stage. Our
bio-devices are hybrid systems that incorporate hierarchically features at the microand nano- scales. On account of their multi scale nature, they permit to transporting
target molecules in extremely dilute solutions to nano plasmonic sensors, surpassing
the impractical timescales that these devices typically suffer from. In tests with
rhodamine molecules, we found that these devices provide concentration factor of
several orders of magnitude over a conventional, flat plasmonic substrate, and in
fact we could detect molecules in the dramatically low concentration range of 10 −18
M. Beyond bare numbers, this scheme provides the capability of localization and
immobilization of molecules where and, possibly, when we want. And this is the
result of an unprecedented blend of physics and chemistry, for the fabrication of the
surfaces, and mathematics, for the correct design of these surfaces.
Still, certain problems remain unsolved, including how to bind the target biomolecules to the sensor surface, what factors determine the probability of binding, or
how to deplete the solution of interest from abundant, interfering proteins. A detailed
investigation of the droplet-collapsing process may provide clues to the first two
questions. The integration, optimization and assessment of high tech bio/chemical
procedures for separation from serum, purification, segmentation and enrichment of
individual biomarkers, using methods that involve, for example, SISCAPA (stable
isotope standards and capture by anti-peptide antibodies) procedures, or nano porous
silicon filters, would address the third node. Again, the correct integration of pioneering (nano) technologies and biological and proteomic methods would boost the
development of bio-sensors with exceptional sensibility and selectivity.
The single detection issue is a worthwhile aim in itself, nevertheless the introduction
of super hydrophobicity in life sciences opens up a number of different applications
and opportunities. Micro-drops provide environmental characteristics which are difficult to obtain otherwise. Using these conditions to investigate life processes affords
521
surprisingly, surgical biopsy remains the ‘gold standard’ for the clinical assessment
of the pathologic basis of disease. The morphologic presentation of tissue specimens
continues to be the backbone of diagnostic pathology; stills, this practice inherently
suffers from being predominately a qualitative art. The quality of diagnoses is still
entrusted with the pathologist’s experience and knowledge.
The past decade has seen tremendous progress in the development of original strategies, technologies, or both, that promise to overcome the limitations discussed above.
These include (i) the use of super-hydrophobicity for biological sample handling and
manipulation; (ii) the analysis of molecules, bio molecules or individual peptides
using mass spectrometry, Raman or other spectroscopies; (iii) micro and nano scale
devices with advanced sensing capabilities, and especially SERS devices. Although,
individually, the technologies above fostered important changes and progresses, the
latter were mostly limited to their specific, and often limited, fields of application.
The major advance, here, is that at least three different technologies are conveyed
into a single platform. From the combination of (i) to (iii) (and particularly from the
introduction of super hydrophobic devices), new properties and opportunities arise.
Biology does a lot with a little. Learning from nature, and inspired by the lotus
effect, we developed a new nanotechnology that, mimicking the morphology of the
lotus leaf, offer realistic possibilities to diagnosis tumours at their early stage. Our
bio-devices are hybrid systems that incorporate hierarchically features at the microand nano- scales. On account of their multi scale nature, they permit to transporting
target molecules in extremely dilute solutions to nano plasmonic sensors, surpassing
the impractical timescales that these devices typically suffer from. In tests with
rhodamine molecules, we found that these devices provide concentration factor of
several orders of magnitude over a conventional, flat plasmonic substrate, and in
fact we could detect molecules in the dramatically low concentration range of 10 −18
M. Beyond bare numbers, this scheme provides the capability of localization and
immobilization of molecules where and, possibly, when we want. And this is the
result of an unprecedented blend of physics and chemistry, for the fabrication of the
surfaces, and mathematics, for the correct design of these surfaces.
Still, certain problems remain unsolved, including how to bind the target biomolecules to the sensor surface, what factors determine the probability of binding, or
how to deplete the solution of interest from abundant, interfering proteins. A detailed
investigation of the droplet-collapsing process may provide clues to the first two
questions. The integration, optimization and assessment of high tech bio/chemical
procedures for separation from serum, purification, segmentation and enrichment of
individual biomarkers, using methods that involve, for example, SISCAPA (stable
isotope standards and capture by anti-peptide antibodies) procedures, or nano porous
silicon filters, would address the third node. Again, the correct integration of pioneering (nano) technologies and biological and proteomic methods would boost the
development of bio-sensors with exceptional sensibility and selectivity.
The single detection issue is a worthwhile aim in itself, nevertheless the introduction
of super hydrophobicity in life sciences opens up a number of different applications
and opportunities. Micro-drops provide environmental characteristics which are difficult to obtain otherwise. Using these conditions to investigate life processes affords