Label-free plasmonic immunosensing for plasmodium in whole blood

We present the first experimental demonstration of label-free malaria pathogen detection in whole blood lysate using plasmon nanostructures. Previous studies on plasmonic biosensing have measured antibody-antigen binding, proteinprotein interactions, and detection of bacteria. However, unlike our sensor, many of these works rely on complex optical setups to excite surface plasmon waves. The demonstrated plasmon sensor is a compact, highly sensitive, cost effective, selective diagnostic tool for many portable biosensing applications such as point-of-care diagnostics. To achieve malaria pathogen detection, we utilized a highly site-directed and stable antibody immobilization process on the nanostructure's surface. The measured refractive index sensitivity of the nanostructured sensor is 378 nm/RIU in the visible range. © 2013 IEEE.