Compact Biocompatible Fiber Optic Temperature Microprobe Using DNA-Based Biopolymer

A highly compact biocompatible microprobe type fiber optic temperature sensor was experimentally demonstrated utilizing an inherently high thermo-optic coefficient of DNA biopolymer. The sensor was based on an all-fiber multimode interferometer (MMI) along a coreless silica fiber (CSF) spliced to an end of a single mode fiber. Au film was deposited the CSF end facet to provide a double path for MMI and it also worked as a probe terminal. The circumferential area of CSF was coated with DNA-cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTMA) thin solid film, which served as a temperature sensing head. We experimentally investigated thermo-optical properties of DNA-CTMA thin solid films to find its large negative thermo-optical coefficient −4.15 × 10
⁻⁴
/°C in the temperature range from 20 to 70 °C. DNA-CTMA coated fiber optic probe was immersed in a water bath to simulate the bio compatible environment whose temperature was varied in the range from 30 to 70 °C. The proposed sensor showed a high-temperature sensitivity of −0.22 nm/°C in the spectral shifts, and 0.085 dB/°C in the reflected optical power changes. The proposed probe can be readily applied in various types of
in vivo
point of care temperature monitoring.