Whispering Gallery Mode Imaging for Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer

University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

1134222 Dunn This NSF award by the Biosensing/CBET program supports work by Professor Dunn at the University of Kansas to develop innovative biosensing platforms that enable large scale multiplexing capabilities. These projects revolve around integrating sensitive fluorescence imaging with small whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonators to develop new, inexpensive bioassays. WGM resonators can sense analyte binding through changes in their surrounding refractive index which offers a sensitive label-free approach for biosensing. By coupling these resonators with fluorescence imaging, we overcome many of the difficulties associated with integrating them into useful biosensing platforms for multiplexed detection of analytes. Moreover, this approach provides a unique window into WGM structure and can track how this structure evolves with changes in external conditions. The fundamental studies proposed here comparing results from state-of-the-art high resolution microscopy measurements with detailed numerical simulations, therefore, will add insights into the fundamental properties of these interesting structures and lead to new approaches for biosensor development. The multiplexed biosensing capabilities of these new platforms will be exploited to develop new bioassays for the early detection of ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer remains a leading cause of cancer related deaths among the female population despite the development of aggressive surgical and chemotherapeutic treatments that have been extraordinarily successful at treating the cancer in early stages. New screening approaches capable of early stage diagnosis, therefore, can potentially have a significant impact in the health and quality of life for many. These projects, therefore, combine fundamental aspects of chemistry, physics, and biology to create new biosensing platforms with an applied overall goal of developing early screens for ovarian cancer.