Detection of early-stage cancer in adrenal gland (PC12) cells using a prism-based SPR biosensor
Vikash Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar Raghuwanshi, Santosh Kumar
Abstract
This research aims to identify the presence of early-stage cancer in individual living cells through the utilization of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) prism-based biosensor device. The proposed investigation employs SPR phenomena to differentiate between healthy and cancerous cells, employing a multilayer sensing structure. A BK7 glass prism is used as the sensing platform, coated with a nanocomposite layer consisting of gold (Au), titanium dioxide (TiO<sub>2</sub>), and graphene. The refractive index (RI) range of cancerous adrenal gland (PC12) cells is found to be between 1.381 and 1.395. The numerical results demonstrate that the proposed biosensor, equipped with single and multilayer nanocomposite structures, exhibits high sensitivity, figure of merit (FoM), detection accuracy (DA), and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for both healthy and cancerous PC12 cells. As the concentration of cancerous PC12 biomolecules increases in healthy cells, the SPR angle shifts, indicating variations in the refractive index due to the presence of cancerous cell biomolecules. The measurement of refractive index modifications in cancerous PC12 cells of the adrenal gland is achieved through an angle interrogation approach. Various thicknesses of TiO<sub>2</sub>, Au, and graphene layers have been improved to enhance the performance of the biosensor.