International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 3, March 2014)
Photonic Crystal Based Ring Resonator Sensor for Detection
of Glucose Concentration for Biomedical Applications
Poonam Sharma1, Preeta Sharan2
1
Research Scholar, Department of Electronics Engineering, Jain university, Bangalore, India.
2
Professor, Department of ECE, The Oxford College of Engineering, Bangalore, India.
Abstract— In this paper, we have proposed an optical
sensor design for urine analysis for diabetic applications.
The sensor design consists of two dimensional photonic
crystal ring resonator structure. Finite Difference Time
Domain (FDTD) method has been used for the analysis.
MEEP (MIT Electromagnetic Equation Propagation)
simulation tool has been used for modeling and designing of
photonic crystal ring resonator structure. The optical
properties of glucose in urine are studied and average value
of refractive index for different samples is taken as input.
The change in the normalized output power and Q factor
has been observed with the change in the concentration of
glucose in urine and thus by capturing these changes the
concentration of glucose in urine has been detected.
Urine analysis method can be explored for further
research since it provides way of non-invasive analysis of
glucose concentration.
Photonic sensing technology enables the new
measurement possibility through accurate urine analysis
for glucose concentration. Photonic crystal bandgap
structures can be utilized for glucose detection. Since the
input refractive index variation is very minute, these
photonic crystal band gap structures can be less sensitive.
In this paper we have explored the photonic crystal ring
resonator structure for analysis of glucose concentration
in urine samples. The two dimensional square lattice
photonic crystal ring resonator structure with rectangular
ring waveguide is designed and simulated. The ring
resonator structure provides accurate and highly reliable
results. Even for the minute variation in the input
refractive index, the ring resonator structure provides
distinct change in the output frequency and power, giving
very sensitive results.
Thus the purpose of the paper is to develop and
simulate the two dimensional square lattice photonic
crystal sensor which can be developed as lab-on-a-chip
sensor for detection of glucose concentration in urine.
Keywords—Diabetes, Photonic crystal ring resonator,
Refractive index, MEEP, Urine analysis.
I. INTRODUCTION
According to the American Diabetes Association‘s
data, from the National Diabetes Fact sheet (January 26,
2011), 8.3 % of the total population, i.e., around 25.8
million people are affected by diabetes each year in the
United States [10]. According to World Health
Organization (WHO) about 347 million people
worldwide have diabetes in the year 2013 [11]. Also
WHO projects that diabetes is going to be the seventh
leading disease. Diabetes is not only chronic but it is also
fatal. It causes over 3 million deaths per year due to high
fasting blood sugar. Moreover, it is root cause for the
damage of heart, blood vessels, eyes and kidneys [1].
Research is going on for surveillance, control and
prevention of diabetes through new inventions and
modern techniques. Integrated photonics has opened the
ways to modernize diabetes monitoring with the
development of non-invasive methods for glucose
concentration detection [4].
The conventional methods for diabetes monitoring are
invasive methods which consist of analysis of glucose
concentration in blood samples. Main disadvantage of the
blood analysis method is that these methods are invasive.
Thousands of blood samples are collected and are
assessed in laboratories. Other methods involve urine
analysis with test strip color change. The color changes
in test strips can be biased due to airborne or finger borne
contamination or interference with light source or light
sensor and can give inaccurate results.
II. THEORY
The presence of glucose in urine is indication of not
only high glucose percentage in blood but also the
inability of kidney for glucose filtration, hence kidney
disorder or malfunction. The negligible range of 015mg/dl amount of glucose can exist in urine. This range
is called 'Renal Threshold of Glucose'. Beyond RTG is
clear indication of 'Glycosuria' [1][2]. The concept
behind the photonic crystal as a sensor is that the
refractive index of urine sample alters as the glucose
concentration in the urine changes. As a result the
electromagnetic propagation in the photonic crystal is
modified. By capturing the modification of the
electromagnetic properties like center frequency,
transmitted power, the glucose concentration can be
detected. Thus the photonic crystal structure can be
explored for sensing applications. The advantages of
these sensor technologies are the low cost, low energy,
contact-free and provide direct measurements and
analyses of substances.
702
International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 3, March 2014)
The photonic crystal function as sensor can be proved
by using a master equation evaluated by solving the
Maxwell's basic equations [14][16].
  (   )


 
( ) ……………….(1)

Here, in Equation (1) 'H' is the magnetic field and 'c' is
speed of light. In the above master equation, it can be
observed as the dielectric function () changes the
frequency ( ) of resonance changes. Thus, the photonic
crystal structures can be used as sensor. Different
methods such as photonic bandgap method, effective
refractive index method, spectroscopy, optical imaging
can be explored [4][7]. But as the input variations are
very low the sensitivity of these methods and structures
are also very less.
To increase the sensitivity of the photonic crystal
structures the ring resonator waveguide structures can be
used. In ring resonator structure the resonance or the
output power of waveguide alters as the refractive index
of sample is changed. The variation in resonance can be
captured and thus the structure can be used for sensing
applications. As the refractive index of urine samples
with different concentration of glucose changes, the
overall refractive index profile of the photonic crystal
ring resonator structure is modified, changing the
resonance. Assessment of Q factor ensures the reliability
of the results. Even the change in Q factor is observed as
the input parameter varies.
The ultimate goal of the paper is to develop a sensor
based on two dimensional square lattice ring resonator
structure for detection of glucose amount in urine
samples, with improved sensitivity and efficiency.
III.
From Light
Source
To Light
Detector
Fig. 1. Design of photonic crystal Ring Resonator
Source code for modeling and designing of photonic
crystal waveguide is developed with MEEP and
MATLAB software. The MEEP tool uses scripting
language and the simulation is carried out by this tool
[28][34]. This tool is used for finding the field
distribution of electromagnetic wave.
1. Rods in air configuration
2. Square lattice structure
3. Lattice constant 'a'=1μm
4. Radius of holes 'r'=0.19μm
5. Dielectric constant of rod is 12(silicon)
6. Background dielectric constant is changed with
respect to urine sample taken
7. Height of rods is infinity
8. Light source: Unit Gaussian Pulse with center
frequency at 0.4, width of the pulse is 0.3
Detailed study has been done regarding the amount of
glucose in urine. A detailed database has been prepared
to record refractive index of different concentration of
glucose in urine [2][3]. The refractive index of these
concentrations of glucose is taken into consideration as
input for MEEP is in terms of refractive index [26]. The
dielectric constant (epsilon) is square of refractive index
in optical domain. The change in the frequency can be
observed as the refractive index in the defected rods is
changed according to the concentration of normal (0-15
mg/dl), 1.25 gm/dl, 2.5 gm/dl, 5 gm/dl and 10 gm/dl
glucose in urine. The detailed database is given in Table I
[2][3].
SENSOR DESIGN
The design of the sensor consists of 2-dimensional,
square lattice ring resonator structure. The rod in air
configuration is used. When the sensor device is dipped
in urine sample, the air is replaced by urine sample. The
light is passed through the photonic crystal from one end
and detected from the other end. The light will interact
with the components in the urine, when the sensor is
dipped in the sample. Depending on the dielectric
constant the propagation of the light will vary in the
photonic crystal. Design of the sensor device is shown in
Fig.1.
703
International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 3, March 2014)
TABLE I
Input database for different concentrations of glucose
Urine sample with glucose
concentration
Refractive index
Normal urine
(0-15 mg/dl)
1.335
1.25 gm/dl
1.337
.
Fig.3. Images for transmission of light through waveguide using
MEEP simulation tool.
2.5 gm/dl
1.338
5 gm/dl
1.341
10 gm/dl
1.347
The transmitted power and Quality factor for
corresponding frequency is obtained as one of the output
of MEEP design as shown in Table II.
TABLE II
Output frequency, transmitted power, Q factor for corresponding
concentrations of glucose
Output
Transmitted
power
Sample
Refractive
index
Q factor
Frequency
Normal
(0-15mg/dl)
1.335
73
0.424349
16.41984
1.25 gm/dl
1.337
116
0.423747
16.30274
2.5 gm/dl
1.338
102
0.423146
16.24668
5 gm/dl
1.341
140
0.422545
16.06905
10 gm/dl
1.347
210
0.421944
15.76348
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
MEEP simulation tool results comprise of the
transmission
spectrums
obtained
for
different
concentration of glucose in urine and are shown in Fig.2
given below.
Transmission Spectrum for different glucose concentrations in urine
normal(0-15 mg/dl)
1.25 gm/dl
2.5 gm/dl
5 gm/dl
10 gm/dl
17.2
17
Transmission-->
16.8
16.6
16.4
16.2
16
As observed from the transmission spectrum for
different amount of glucose present in urine, the
transmitted power for normal concentration(0-15 mg/dl)
is 16.41984 at the frequency of 0.424349,
the
transmitted power for 1.25 gm/dl concentration is
16.30274 at the frequency of 0.423747, the transmitted
power for 2.5 gm/dl concentration is 16.24668 at the
frequency of 0.423146, the transmitted power for 5
gm/dl concentration is 16.0905 at the frequency of
0.422545, the transmitted power for 10 gm/dl
concentration is 15.76 at the frequency of 0.421944.
15.8
15.6
15.4
15.2
0.405
0.41
0.415
0.42 0.425 0.43
Frequency-->
0.435
0.44
0.445
Fig.2. Transmission spectrum for different concentrations of
glucose
The png image of the transmission of light wave
propagation with respect to time is shown in Figure 3.
704
International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 3, March 2014)
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From the above plots and Table II, we observe the
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in frequency as the index of refraction for different
components in urine is changing, indicating the presence
of the different concentrations of glucose in urine.
Spectral analysis has been done for different
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Fig. 4. Concentration of glucose in urine sample against the power
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V.
CONCLUSION
The photonic crystal ring resonator structure based
sensor is designed and simulated using MEEP simulation
tool. The sensor can detect the glucose concentrations in
urine samples. The shift in the frequency and change in
the power is observed for different amount of glucose
present in urine samples. The sensor is very helpful in
detection of chronic conditions like 'Glycosuria' and
kidney disorders. Thus, the designed sensor provides a
modernized non-invasive way of glucose concentration
detection for diabetic applications.
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