Medical Physics and Biophysics

Biosensor

A biosensor is an analytical device, used for the detection of an analyte that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector. The sensitive biological element(e.g. tissue, microorganisms, organelles, cell receptors, enzymes, antibodies, nucleic acids, etc.) is a biologically derived material or biomimetic component that interacts (binds or recognizes) with the analyte under study. The biologically sensitive elements can also be created by biological engineering. The transducer or the detector element (works in a physicochemical way; optical, piezoelectric, electrochemical, etc.) transforms the signal resulting from the interaction of the analyte with the biological element into another signal (i.e., transduces) that can be more easily measured and quantified. The biosensor reader device with the associated electronics or signal processors that are primarily responsible for the display of the results in a user-friendly way.This sometimes accounts for the most expensive part of the sensor device, however it is possible to generate a user friendly display that includes transducer and sensitive element (holographic sensor). The readers are usually custom-designed and manufactured to suit the different working principles of biosensors.