Biochemical Detection Applications Enabled by State-of-the-Art Terahertz Sensor
 
Biochemical Detection Applications Enabled by State-of-the-Art Terahertz Sensor 
 
Vladimir Matvejev, Vladimir Matvejev, Yuchen Zhang, Yuchen Zhang, Serge Muyldermans, Serge Muyldermans, Dominique Maes, Dominique Maes, Johan Stiens, Johan Stiens
 
Abstract 

Terahertz waves probe weak chemical bonds and therefore can facilitate label-free and immobilization-free biochemical detection. However so far only a limited number of research groups were able to measure biochemical reaction in water at room temperature [1]. The standard Terahertz free-space measurement techniques have insufficient sensitivity to measure small relative dielectric permittivity changes at high water absorption level. The state-of-the-art Terahertz sensor technology developed at ETRO-IR (VUB) can resolve <0.1\% ethanol concentration in water, using only 10nL to 10mL sample volume. The sensor configuration [2] features a rectangular waveguide (any band between 10-500GHz), liquid container (e.g. a capillary tube) and a tuning element for optimizing sensitivity at the desired dielectric permittivity of a sample.The sensor has been successfully used to measure a number of biochemical processes. To demonstrate protein binding (see figure 1) two types of samples are measured at different concentrations: (a) lysozyme with binding nanobody and (b) lysozyme with non-binding nanobody. Binding nanobody binds specifically to lysozyme and non-binding – does not, but both nanobody proteins have very similar mass. The measured signal difference between two samples reaches maximum at 1:1 molar ratio between lysozyme and nanobody where in case of binding nanobodies all binding partners form a complex. Other measurement examples include in situ monitoring of lysozyme crystallization, real-time particle concentration measurement at the output of HPLC separation column, DNA concentration increase with each PCR amplification cycle.