Applications and Marketability
Benjamin Babineau
Matthew Best
Sean Farrell
Outline
 Why This Project?
 Background
 Types of Biosensors
 Applications
 Commercially Available Biosensors
 Marketability
 Work Breakdown
 Schedule
 Resources
Why This Project?
 There is a great need to create biosensors that are
mass-producible
 In the health field, it is imperative that the maximum
amount of people have access to early warning
diagnoses
 This project will attempt to bring understanding as to
why companies struggle with manufacturing
biosensors on a large, inexpensive scale
 By examining and employing effective methods that
have been used to date, commercial biosensors can
become more prolific
Background
 What is a biosensor?
 Analytical device for the detection of an analyte that
combines a biological component with a physicochemical
detector component
 Components
 Sensitive biological element
 Transducer or detector element
 Electronics and signal processors
Background
 Detection Methods
 Photometric

Optical biosensors use the phenomenon of surface plasmon
resonance (SPR)
 Surface plasmons are surface electromagnetic waves that
propagate in direction parallel to metal/dielectric interface.
 Excitation by light
 Electrochemical

Electrochemical biosensors use a reaction that produces or
consumes electrons
Background
 Ion Channel Switch

Ion channel used to offer highly sensitive detection of target
biological molecules
 Piezoelectric

Uses crystals which undergo an elastic deformation when an
electrical potential is applied
 Detects changes in the resonance frequency
 Other Methods


Thermometric
Magnetic
Types of Biosensors (Analytes)
 Enzyme Electrode
 Enzymes

Enzymes are immobilised on the surface of an electrode
 Current is generated when enzyme catalyses
 Immunosensor
 Antibodies

Detects change in mass when antibody binds to antigen
 DNA Sensor
 DNA
 Microbial Sensor
 Microbial Cells
Types of Biosensors (Detection
Mode)
 Electrochemical
 Potentiometric


Amperometric
Voltametric
 Optical
 Florescence


Adsorption
Reflection
 Electrical
 Surface conductivity

Electrolyte conductivity
Types of Biosensors (Detection
Mode)
 Mass sensitive
 Resonant frequency of piezocrystals
 Thermal
 Heat of reaction
 Heat of adsorption
Applications
 Medical
 Glucose monitoring in diabetes patients
 Detection of pathogens
 In-home medical analysis and diagnosis
 Environmental
 Detection of pesticides and water contaminates
 Determining levels of toxic substances before and after
bioremediation
 Detection of metabolites such as molds
 Remote sensing of airborne bacteria
 Food Industry
 Detection of drug residues, such as antibiotics and growth
promoters, in food
Commercially Available Biosensors
Medical Industry
 Home Blood Glucose Monitors
ReliOn
OneTouch Ultra
FreeStyle
Lite
Precision Xtra
Medical Industry
 Home Blood Glucose Monitors (Continued)
 Determines approximate concentration of glucose in the
blood

Used mainly with people who have diabetes or hypoglycemia
 How They Work
 Today, most glucose monitors use an electrochemical method
 Glucose in blood reacts with an enzyme electrode containing
glucose oxidize
 The enzyme is reoxidized with an excess of mediator reagent
 The mediator is reoxidized by a reaction at the electrode and a
current is created
 The charge passing the electrode is proportional to glucose
level
Medical Industry
 i-STAT Portable Clinical Analyzer
 Handheld blood analyzer system
Medical Industry
 i-STAT (Continued)
 Provides fast, accurate, and lab-quality results
within minutes to accelerate decision making
process
 How It Works



Uses Si in the sensor cartridge as a substrate and a
conducting base; electronics are housed in the
handheld device
Sensors are micro-fabricated thin film electrodes
Depending on particular assay the electrical signals
produced are measured by the i-STAT’s amperometric,
potentiometric, or conductometric circuits.
Environmental Industry
 In agricultural industry, enzyme biosensors are used to
detect traces of organophosphates and carbamates from
pesticides
 One of the most successful commercial biosensors in
industry is used in wastewater quality control
 Biological oxygen demand analyzers
 Though less lucrative than medical diagnostics, public
concern and government funding is a large driving force for
environmental biosensors
 Measurement of pollutants and environmental hazards

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors are most successful
Environmental Industry
 inoLab BSB/BOD 740
 Wastewater control
Environmental Industry
 inoLab BSB/BOD 740
 Laboratory dissolved oxygen meter for wastewater
control
 BOD is a parameter used to measure the quality of
water and treatment results in wastewater

Developed for BODn measurements
 Described in “Standard Methods for Examination of Water and
Wastewater”
 Management of up to 540 diluted samples
 Up to 7 daily routines for dilution ratios
Food Industry
 Quality is extremely important thus sound and
accurate biosensors are necessary
 Enzyme-based biosensors are common in this industry
 Measure amino acids, carbohydrates, gases, alcohols,
and much more
 Other commercially available biosensors include
antibody-based and nucleic acid based biosensors
 Mainly in trial and research laboratories
 Expected to yield substantial returns in the future
Food Industry
 Specific food markets that use biosensors include
alcohol (wine and beer), yogurt, and soft drinks
 Immunosensors are used to ensure food safety by
detecting pathogens in fresh meat, poultry, and fish
 In this particular market problems arise that limit use
or effectiveness of biosensors
 Need for sterility, frequent calibration, and analyte
dilution
Niche Market
 Zeo
 Designed to analyze and improve sleep
Niche Market
 Zeo (Continued)
 Composed of a wireless headband, bedside
display, online analytical tools, and emailbased personalized coaching program
 Zeo will calculate your “ZQ”, a number that summarizes
your sleep quality and quantity
 Headband uses patent-pending SoftWave sensor to
measure sleep patterns using the electrical signals
naturally produced by the brain
Niche Market
 bodybugg
 Personal calorie management system
Niche Market
 bodybugg (Continued)
 Uses multiple physiological sensors for “sensor fusion”




Accelerometer
 Tri-axis micro-electro mechanical sensor that
measures motion
Heat Flux
 Sensor that measures heat being dissipated by
the body via a thermally resistant material
Galvanic Skin Response
 Measures skin conductivity
Skin Temperature
 Skin temperature measured using a thermistor-based sensor
Marketability
The Biosensor Market
 The biosensor market is dominated by only a few products
 For medical diagnostics, approximately 90% of biosensors
are glucose monitors, blood gas monitors, and electrolyte
or metabolite analyzers
 Half of all biosensors produced worldwide are glucose
monitors
 Sales are projected at $1.28 billion in the US in 2012
 The majority of the remaining market includes biosensors
directed at environmental control, fermentation
monitoring, alcohol testing, and food control
The Biosensor Market
 The United States and Europe captured 68.73% of the
biosensor market in 2008
 Due to large development and manufacturing costs,
devices tend to be specialized into areas the will
receive the most response from the market
 Miniaturization has reduced the price of the
fabrication of the sensors
 Makes products more marketable
The Biosensor Market
 Home blood glucose monitors
 The maturing of this particular biosensor have shown
great insight into how the biosensor market works
 Showed some hurdles/issues that must be examined for
success



Robust interface – Direct 30/30 by Eli Lilly
Specificity – separate signal from analyte of interest from
other signals
Stability – biological molecules can be housed long enough to
gain valuable information
The Biosensor Market
 Home blood glucose monitors (Cont.)
 This product, though extremely successful now, was not
readily accepted initially



The market at the time, diabetic patients and physicians, was
not the same as it is today
The devices were very primitive compared to what we see
today
The manufacturing of the electromechanical strips were more
difficult and expensive than expected
 The market was dominated by larger companies which
made it difficult for small players to get involved
Use in the Food Industry
 There is an increasing demand for biosensors in the
food industry
 In the past little attention was given to using
biosensors to examine food for pathogens
 However, with a rise of incidents involving
contaminated food there is now a need for a sensor
that can accurately and quickly determine if food is
contaminated
 There are few sensors designed to do this now but this
is a major field of new research
GTRI Food Safety Biosensor
 Due to recent incidents with contaminated food
validating food safety is becoming a major concern
 The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is
currently testing a new food safety biosensor
 This sensor uses integrated optics, immunoassay
techniques, and surface chemistry to determine if
there are pathogens present
 It is capable of quickly identifying the species and
concentration of various pathogens including E. coli
and Salmonella
GTRI Food Safety Biosensor
 This
system is currently being testing in a
metropolitan Atlanta food processing plant
 This sensor allows early detection of pathogens which
helps to keep contaminated food from reaching the
market
 These researchers hope that similar sensors might be
used to identify other hazards within the food
industry
 If this sensor is proven successful it will be used as a
model for the future development of sensors for the
food industry
Techniques for Commercialization
 Home blood glucose monitors
 Have shown several keys to making competitive
biosensors in the market




Limiting cost both to the manufacturer and consumer
Need for very high quality and accurate sensors
 Especially in the medical industry where potentially life
threatening illnesses are diagnosed
Understanding the end users needs
 Sight impaired
Transparency in users life
 Interface with a physicians work regime
Techniques for Commercialization
 R&D of Commercial Sensors
 R&D of commercial biosensors tends to focus on the
creation of new sensors and the miniaturization of new
sensors
 Research takes place at both universities and private
business
 Because of the high cost to manufacture biosensors,
miniaturization allows more sensors to be made with
less material, energy, and effort
 New research keeps companies and universities at the
head of this quickly changing field
Techniques for Commercialization
 Miniaturization
 Need for analysis of a large number of assays

Cost efficient if small amounts of reagents are used
 Allows for multi-analyte assays
 Academic research

Duke University
 Developed arrays of tiny electrodes that monitor heart
electrical activity
 Developed a single
cm2 chip with 400 individuallyaddressable microelectrodes used for special resolution of
analyte distribution in small areas
Commercialization Issues
 The commercialization of biosensors has lagged
behind their research and development
 There are significant costs and technical barriers that
can slow down or block the commercialization of new
systems
 The amount of initial capital and technical knowledge
that is required to start developing biosensors is so
great that many new companies simply can not handle
them
Commercialization Issues
 Changes in manufacturing processes, automation, and
miniaturization techniques mean that many biosensors
are already obsolete when they are released
 Customers are not willing to pay high prices of a product
that is not the most advanced of its kind
 As a result companies need to sink a large percentage of
their budget into developing new technologies to stay
competitive
 If a company does not have enough capital to develop these
technologies quickly enough, even if their product would
normally be in high demand, they will not be successful
Market Development
 The biosensor market is driven by market demand and
by the companies that produce sensors
 This demand can come from the consumer (market
pull) or it can come from the developer (technology
push)
 Push and pull have very different market strategies and
they must be treated differently
 Biosensors that are “pulled” directly by the consumer
are generally more profitable and successful
Technology Push of Biosensors
 Technology push deals with the development of
biosensors that may not address a true user need
 These products are developed by a company with the
desire to create a market demand
 Many commercial biosensors are designed with the
idea that if they are available people will develop a
need for them
 Generally less successful and profitable until the
product develops a need for its own distinct market
Market Pull of Biosensors
 Market pull is generated by a true need for a product
 Products that are necessary for the health and well-
being of groups and individuals
 These sensors tend to be related to medicine, safety,
and biological sensing
 Glucose sensors, pathogen detection, EKG sensors
 This is currently the largest and most profitable area
for the development and commercialization of
biosensors
Trends in the Medical Industry
 The medical industry demands biosensors that are
fast, accurate, and noninvasive
 Sensing time needs to be reduced while maintaining
accuracy of the measurements
 There is a growing demand for sensors that are
internal instead of external to the body
 Glucose sensors that are implantable so users are not
required to pick their fingers several times every day
Work Breakdown
 Ben
 Research available commercial biosensors
 Obtain technical information of these biosensors
 Matt
 Marketability of biosensors
 Techniques used in industry
 Sean
 Miniaturization of biosensors

Techniques and benefits
Schedule
 Gantt Chart
Commercially Available Biosensors
Activity
Presentation 1
Report 1 Due
Report 1 Review Due
Report 2 Due
Presentation 2
Report 2 Review Due
Final Presentation
Final Report Due
Find Additional Commercial Biosensors
Technical Information on Biosensors
Marketability of Biosensors
Availability of Biosensors
Week of
1-Mar
8-Mar
15-Mar
22-Mar
29-Mar
5-Apr
12-Apr
19-Apr
26-Apr
3-May
10-May
Resources
 Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. “Plastic chips monitor body
functions, research suggests.” ScienceDaily 20 April
2010. 1 March
 Jeffrey D. Newman, Anthony P.F. Turner. “Home Blood
Glucose Biosensors: A Commercial Perspective”
Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Volume 20, Issue 12,
20th Anniversary of Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 15
June 2005, Pages 2435-2453
 Reyes De Corcuera, Jose I., and Cavalieri, Ralph P.
"Biosensors." Encyclopedia of Agricultural, Food, and
Biological Engineering (2003): 119-23. Print.
Resources
 Kress-Rogers, Erika. Instrumentation and Sensors for
the Food Industry. Ed. Christopher Brimelow. Oxford:
Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001. Print.
 Englehardt, Kirk J. "Food Safety Biosensor That
Detects Pathogens Is Tested in Metro Atlanta
Processing Plant." Georgia Tech Research Institute:
Industry Solutions 2010. Web.
 Kuhn, Lance S. "Biosensors: Blockbuster or Bomb?"
The Electrochemical Society (1998): 26-31. Print.
Resources
 Rodriguez-Mozaz, Sara, Maria-Pilar Marco, Maria J.
Lopez De Alda, and Damia Barcelo. "Biosensors for
Environmental Applications: Future Development
Trends." Pure and Applied Chemistry 76.4 (2004): 72352. Print.
 Various Internet Sources