Journal article 41 views
A Nanosensor Platform for Biologging in Marine Animals
Rory Wilson 
ACS Sensors
Swansea University Author:
Rory Wilson
DOI (Published version): 10.1021/acssensors.5c00671
Abstract
Biologging has significantly advanced ecological biology by enabling the collection of data from free-roaming ani-mals in their natural habitats. Traditionally, these measurements have largely been limited to temperature, pressure, and movement. Incorporating physiological data of animal biomarkers...
| Published in: | ACS Sensors |
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| Published: |
ACS
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69151 |
| Abstract: |
Biologging has significantly advanced ecological biology by enabling the collection of data from free-roaming ani-mals in their natural habitats. Traditionally, these measurements have largely been limited to temperature, pressure, and movement. Incorporating physiological data of animal biomarkers could yield valuable orthogonal datasets, provid-ing a more nuanced understanding of organisms in the context of their environments and behaviors. Despite this poten-tial, successful collection of such biochemical information remains absent, and thus motivates new sensor platforms. To-wards this end, we explore the hardware and nanosensor optimization of animal implantable sensors for tracking hor-mone levels in marine animals. The transducer element is based on polymer-wrapped single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) that act as nanosensors embedded within a biocompatible poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel. This work investigates the performance of the nanosensor hydrogel under various temperatures, illumination conditions, and nanoparticle concentration in the hydrogel. We further prototype a miniaturized fluores-cent system for integration into existing, commercially available acoustic tags widely used in marine biology studies. We demonstrate a baseline of 100 nM for the detection limit of progesterone as an example of an important hormone in marine animals, using the inte-grated nanosensor hydrogel in this platform. Further improvement is possible with optimization of the signal to noise via hardware development. This developed form-factor will complement the presently collected data by providing insights into the physiological state of the animals in the context of their behavior and environments. |
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| Keywords: |
tagging, nanosensor, biologging, biochemical monitoring, steroid sensing |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
This work was supported by the Innovasea System Inc (Agrmt dated 02/04/2021). X.J. acknowledges support from Mathworks Inc. through the Mathworks Engineering Fellowship. The authors also acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation (Award no. CBET-2124194) for
nanoparticle spectroscopy and characterization. The collaborative discussions on the biologging problem were supported by King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (OSR2015 Sensors 2707). |