Anti-biofouling coatings for optical fiber sensors

Anna Grazia Mignani; P. Bizzarri; M. Driver; R. Palmer; K. Liefeith; G. Hildebrand; John P. Dakin

doi:10.1117/12.456095

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14 February 2002 Anti-biofouling coatings for optical fiber sensors

Anna Grazia Mignani, P. Bizzarri, M. Driver, R. Palmer, K. Liefeith, G. Hildebrand, John P. Dakin

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Proceedings Volume 4578, Fiber Optic Sensor Technology and Applications 2001; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.456095
Event: Environmental and Industrial Sensing, 2001, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

One of the most serious problems relevant to the use of optical fiber sensors in real-world environments is surface fouling, that is, the cumulative build-up of undesirable material on the working surface of a sensor. This paper present the results of anti-biofouling tests on coated fiber optic probes for reflectance spectroscopy in blood- simulating foul media, namely Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) and Fibrinogen. The anti-biofouling coating, a proprietary invention of Biocompatibles Ltd., was a cross-linkable Phosphorylcholine (PC) polymer with Silane functionality, to improve adhesion to silica-containing substrates. All tests in BSA and Fibrinogen showed that PC-1036 coating was efficient in avoiding the build-up of biological material. In fact, optical signal variations of un-coated probes showed fluctuations in the 6-20% range, while coated probes exhibited a nearly-stable optical signal. These results were also confirmed by a microscopic check, which showed adhesions of biological material to un-coated probes.

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Anna Grazia Mignani, P. Bizzarri, M. Driver, R. Palmer, K. Liefeith, G. Hildebrand, and John P. Dakin "Anti-biofouling coatings for optical fiber sensors", Proc. SPIE 4578, Fiber Optic Sensor Technology and Applications 2001, (14 February 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.456095

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