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Biosensors

What Are Biosensors

A biological sensor, or biosensor for short, is a device consisting of a transducer and a biological element, a nucleic acid, an antibody, or an enzyme. It measures chemical or biological reactions by generating signals in proportion to the concentration of the specific analyte.

A typical biosensor is made up of five constituent parts. Here’s an overview of each and how they work.

Analyte

This refers to the substance of interest in a reaction. It is the component that the biosensor would need to detect. For instance, if you have a biosensor designed to detect glucose levels in the blood, the analyte, in this case, would be glucose.

Bioreceptor

This is the molecule tasked with identifying the specific analyte in the reaction. When the bioreceptor interacts with the analyte, the reaction generates a signal. This may be in the form of a change in mass, a charge, pH, heat, light, etc. This signal generation process is known as bio-recognition.

Transducer

A transducer is an element that converts energy in one form into another. The transducer in a biosensor functions to transform the bio-recognition process into a signal that can be quantified. This energy conversion process is referred to as signalization. Most transducers produce electrical or optical signals proportional to the quantity of the interactions between the analytes and bioreceptors.

Electronics

Biosensors consist of intricate electronic circuitry that processes the signals output by the transducer to prepare them for display. These circuits perform a host of signal conditioning processes, including analog-to-digital conversion and signal amplification.

Depending on the type of enzyme, the transducer may convert the biological element into an electrical signal in the form of voltage or current. 

Display

The display component of a biosensor comprises user interpretation systems such as direct printers or LCD screens to generate numbers or graphs that the end-user can analyze and understand. The resultant output signal on the biosensor display depends on the user's requirements. These may include images, tables, graphs, or numeric values.

There are different types of biosensors, each classified according to the specific type of bio-transducer element they contain. Examples include thermal, optical, electrochemical, and piezoelectric biosensors.

Some examples of common biosensor applications include:

  • Glucose monitoring kits
  • Pregnancy tests
  • Antibody-based and diagnostic testing kits
  • Environmental pollution monitoring systems
  • Bacteria and cell culture monitors used in the dairy and alcohol manufacturing sectors
  • Pesticide-detection kits
  • Food and water quality monitoring systems
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