Design of 3D-Printed Electronic Fiber Optic Sensor to Detect Rhodamine B Reagent: An Initiation to Potential Virus Detection

Biomimetics (Basel). 2022 Jul 9;7(3):94. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics7030094.

Abstract

A fluorescence device based on ultraviolet light is proposed in this paper, which currently stands at the design stage with the eventual aim to potentially detect virus/antibody fluorescence reactions. The designed device is proposed to have the characteristics of high reflectivity, low power consumption, wide spectrum of light source, and proper silver coating. For fabrication and raising product quality, 3D printing technology and a sputtering test will be used. In this connection, this paper firstly introduces the design sources; then, the ideas of inventing fluorescence detection devices based on ultraviolet light, followed by the data analysis as well as discussing the results of computer simulations. The design process, materials, methods, and experiments are demonstrated following the reality work procedure. Instead of directly using a virus or antibodies for the experiment, at the current design stage, we focus on using this device to detect the rhodamine B reagent. Experiment shows that this reagent can be successfully detected. With this achievement, we logically believe that such type of an ultraviolet optical sensor, with further development and testing, may have the possible value to detect a single virus such as COVID-19, as well as other viruses or small molecules. Though there is long way to go to achieve such a goal, future works experimenting with the detection device on real virus or antibodies can take place more efficiently with a good foundation.

Keywords: 3D printing; COVID-19; antibody fluorescence reaction; computer simulation; engineering design; product innovation; rhodamine B; ultraviolet light; virus detection.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.