Silicon photomultipliers applied to the fluorescence detection of biomarkers

The silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) has advantages that allow it to detect low levels of light intensity in medical, chemical and biological applications; it can also build integrated, portable microfluidic systems. This paper presents a SIPM application designed for the detection of fluorescence of biomarkers. In order to minimise the volume of the tested sample, the measurements were conducted in a microfluidic system. A data acquisition system for the SiPM has been designed consisting of a dedicated application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) required to amplify and shape signals from the photodetector. The application has been designed with the aim of transforming it into a portable device. The detection method chosen in the research is based on flow cytometry and single molecule detection [1], [2]. Although only a single photodetector was used, the presented applications can be adapted to multi-detector measurements. Initially, the application measured the fluorescence of fluorophores. Afterwards, it was used in the detection of Anti-NPR1 to confirm the effectiveness of the method. The application is not dedicated to a single antigen. It can be applied for the detection of a vast range of biomarkers.