Analysis of relevant parameters for adapting total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) immunosensors to seawater monitoring

摘要

ception and implementation of biosensors for monitoring of sea and river water quality are nowadays important topics in environmental research, and the monitoring of water for the presence of toxic substances, even in trace quantities, is foreseen to reach widespread use in the 90s. Because of their high sensitivity and ability to recognize a wide range of substances, immunosensors are particularly suited to this type of measurement. Optical immunosensors based on the total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) technique couple the selectivity of the antigen-antibody reaction to the spatial selectivity of the evanescent wave at a refractive boundary. The configuration for the TIRF sensor we have developed is based on a quartz optical fiber with a high numerical aperture.