The optical ring resonator is an emerging sensing technology that has recently been under intensive investigation. In a ring resonator, light propagates in the form of whispering gallery modes (WGMs), which results in a light-analyte interaction length much longer than the resonator physical size. Consequently, the ring resonator can achieve a much improved detection limit, lower sample volume, and larger integration density than the traditional waveguide or optical fiber based sensor.
The optofluidic ring resonator (OFRR) is a unique technology platform developed in my lab in the past four years, which integrates microfluidics and photonics. The platform has a wide spectrum of applications, ranging from low-cost, portable, sensitive biomedical devices to highly sophisticated photonic instruments used in optical signal processing, nonlinear optics, and fundamental physics. In this talk, I will focus on three major biomedical applications of the OFRR:
1. OFRR label-free biosensors, including their working principles, performance advantages, and sensing examples (e.g., detection of protein, DNA, viruses, and cells such as MCF7 breast cancer cells and CD4+). Actual clinical applications of the OFRR for development of a portable and rapid breast cancer serological biomarker analyzer will be presented. Its potential applications for high throughput proteomics will also be discussed;
2. OFRR based micro-gas chromatography for chemical vapor sensing and its potential biomedical applications as a portable and sensitive breath analyzer;
3. OFRR microfluidic lasers and their applications in development of novel molecular beacon with ultrahigh sensitivity and ultralow sample volume.