The development of biological sensors for performing analytical biochemical tests is becoming increasingly important as the scope of applications broadens to include medical diagnostics, environmental testing, and industrial process monitoring. This project is to develop a sensitive, differential microcalorimetric biosensor device using thin polymer films displaying a pyroelectric response. Unlike conventional calorimetric techniques using thermistors or thermopiles, pyroelectric thin films can be fabricated to extremely close physical tolerances by simple means and operated in a differential mode, irrespective of the absolute temperature In effect, the project is to evaluate techniques that can significantly improve on and simplify the classical analytical methods of thermometry and microcalorimetry. A distinct advantage of a microcalorimetric biosensor device is that a wide range of analyses can be performed and the specificity determined by the choice of biological processes without the potential interferences encountered by methods such as spectrophotometry or fluorometry. By employing techniques similar to microcircuit fabrication, the project aims to construct a simple enzyme- and immunoenzyme-based biosensor device based on the pyroelectric response of a thin-film polymer that is low in cost and, by nature of the fabrication, provides for a single-step, single-phase "homogeneous" enzyme immunoassay format.Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications as described by the awardee:The result of the proposed feasibility study will be the demonstration of a low-cost, simple, pyroelectric differential microcalorimetric biosensor device applicable to enzymatic and immunoenzymatic assays. The commercial applications of the technology would be broad and would include medical diagnostics, industrial processing, and environmental monitoring.
