Abstract
“Electrochemical sensors, biosensors and microfabrication: Where are my molecules and what are they up to?”
The measurement of chemical concentrations and fluxes enables elucidation of fundamental mechanisms in biology. Furthermore, the appearance or change in concentration of small molecules can be correlated with disease states, and sensors can find applications in diagnostics.
Electrochemical sensors can be used for ex situ single shot snapshot measurements in cheap and disposable point of care devices or can be used to log data continuously in in vitro preparations or implantable devices. The relative ease of manufacture, simple instrumentation, scalability, unparalleled tunable spatial and temporal resolution provide for a wide field of application.
I will present a brief overview of fundamental aspects of electrochemical devices, their modes of operation with exemplar applications from my group. The unique difficulties of biological measurement will also be discussed along with strategies and solutions for their mitigation that we have developed over the years.
Three recent of current research activities will be presented in more detail:
1. Generator-collector devices for assessing buffer capacity in tissue. Buffer capacity is a more biologically significant variable than pH in various conditions, including sickle cell disease, kidney failure, diabetes and sepsis. It is currently determined from multiple blood ion measurements and the combination of these factors is slow, tiresome and the underlying assumptions may not be valid in all cases. Simple titration would be ideal but is not practical in tiny biological specimens. We have developed theoretical descriptions of electrolytic titrators which generate a proton flux by electrolysis of water.
Biography
Danny O’Hare graduated in chemistry from Imperial College London 1984. He holds a PhD from Physiological Flow Studies Group (PFSG), Imperial College London on ‘The development of electrochemical sensors for the study of intervertebral disc nutrition’ awarded in 1991. After completing postdoctoral work in the PFSG on electrokinetic characterization of articular cartilage, he held first the post of Lecturer, then Senior Lecturer in Analytical Chemistry at School of Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences, University of Brighton 1992-2001.
Dr O’Hare is a Chartered Chemist and member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Electrochemical Society and British Society for Matrix Biology. He is a Member of the Advisory Board for Analytical Abstracts (Royal Society of Chemistry).