Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
polymer, KLI-2. These authors explain that lithium-containing medications may be taken by
patients over a period of months or even years. They further point out that lithium ion con-
centrations have to be carefully monitored in the narrow range of 0.6-1.2 mM (
Manji et al.,
1995; Jope, 1999
).
Ong et al. (2006)
have recently developed a rapid and highly sensitive detection system for
endotoxin. These authors explain that the early detection of endotoxin enables the administra-
tion of antibiotic therapy that prevents the onset of sepsis (
Fink and Aranow, 1997
). Sepsis, in
common terms, is blood poisoning. It is a common blood stream infection, and involves the
presence of bacteria, or other infectious organisms and other toxins in the blood. The
National Vital Statistics Reports (1999)
reports that sepsis is a common, expensive, and often
fatal condition. Ong et al. (1999) explain that sepsis is the largest cause of mortality in ICUs
(intensive care units). They point out that the early detection of sepsis significantly helps in
improving patient survival.
Finally,
Fonfria et al. (2007)
have detected paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins using a
SPR-based biosensor. These authors emphasize that the early detection of these toxins is
essential for human health preservation. Furthermore, PSP is a worldwide, algal-derived
toxin that can cause serious food poisoning. They report that the neurotoxins responsible
for PSP are saxitoxin (STX) and its derivatives. The authors point out that technical and eth-
ical reasons have prompted the development of alternative assays to replace the original
mouse bioassay.
Fonfria et al. (2007)
developed an inhibition assay that permitted making
quantitative STX, decarbamoyl saxitoxin (dcSTX), gonyautoxin 2,3 (GTX2/3), gonyautoxin 5
(GTX5), and C 1,2 (C1/2) at concentrations of 2-50 ng/mL.
In this chapter we use fractal analysis to analyze the binding (and dissociation, if applicable)
kinetics of (a) the binding (dose-response) of different concentrations (in mM) of phenol in
solution to cells immobilized on a bio-MEMS based cell-chip (
Yoo et al., 2007
), (b) binding
and dissociation of 0.88 mM hydrogen peroxide mixed with GC2 (
E. coli
strain) immobilized
microcell chip (
Yoo et al., 2007
), (c) binding of catechol to bentonite-vanadium (V) oxide
xerogels (
Anaissi and Toma, 2005
), (d) binding and dissociation of ethanol vapors in 40%
RH (relative humidity) to a CTO (powdered sample of Cr
1.8
Ti
0.2
O
3
; titanium substituted
chromium oxide) thick film in a sol-gel-derived polycrystalline biosensor (Pokhrel et al.,
2007
), (e) and binding and dissociation of different concentrations of SEB in solution to
the antibody-functionalized microbeads on a sensor chip (
Haes et al., 2006
). The fractal anal-
ysis may be considered as an alternative analysis for the kinetics observed in the different
analyte-receptor reactions occurring on the biosensor surfaces presented above. In no way
are we indicating that the present fractal analysis is better than any of the original kinetic
analysis presented previously in the respective publications.
