Dental News - New biosensor on tooth enamel recognizes dental superbugs

Dental Tribune International

Tue. 17 April 2012

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PRINCETON, N.J., USA: Researchers have developed a prototype for a graphene-based nanosensor that is able to detect pathogens even at extremely low concentrations. They investigated the device's responsiveness when directly integrated with tooth enamel, which is constantly exposed to rich biologic media, such as breath and salvia, and therefore ideal for probing for disease and infectious agents.

In a series of tests, the researchers investigated, among others, the responsiveness of the sensor to Helicobacter pylori, a pathogen found in the stomach and salvia, which is estimated to be responsible for over 90 percent of duodenal ulcers and stomach cancers. The sensor was biotransferred onto the surface of a bovine tooth to explore whether it selectively recognizes H. pylori cells in human salvia. Optical experiments with fluorescently labeled bacterial cells verified that the unit recognized and bound bacterial cells, after incubation in salvia for approximately 15 minutes.

Owing to the ability to detect various species of pathogenic bacteria in particular, this invention represents a fundamentally new paradigm in biochemical detection and may provide a monitoring and detection system for various applications, including hospital sanitation monitoring and food safety analysis, according to the researchers.

Since the new sensor can be interfaced with the contamination source directly, they suggested that it could also be used with food and hospital equipment.

There are very few cheap and portable methods of detecting a number of bacteria with extremely low minimum infective doses at an early level. Although resistant superbugs and pathogens are of critical concern in both developed and developing countries, there are currently only very limited methods of detecting them.

The sensor developed in Princeton consists of an extremely thin graphene layer printed onto a bioresorbable silk substrate that is both strong and elastic. The graphene is then contacted by interdigitated electrodes, which are simultaneously patterned with an inductive coil antenna. After this process, the hybrid biosensor is transferred to biomaterials such as tooth enamel or tissue.
Owing to its electrical, mechanical and sensing properties, graphene is an ideal active material for direct interfacing onto rugged surfaces, the researchers said.

This ultrathin unit operates without any batteries and allows wireless sensing of the various bacteria that dock selectively on its surface, by which they change the electrical conductivity.

The article was published online on Apr. 27 in the Nature Communications journal.

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