Direct molecule-specific glucose detection by Raman spectroscopy based on photonic crystal fiber

This paper reports the first step toward the development of a glucose biosensor based on Raman spectroscopy and a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) probe. Historically, it has been very challenging to detect glucose directly by Raman spectroscopy due to its inherently small Raman scattering cross-section. In this work, we report the first quantitative glucose Raman detection in the physiological concentration range (0–25 mM) with a low laser power (2 mW), a short integration time (30 s), and an extremely small sampling volume (∼50 nL) using the highly sensitive liquid-filled PCF probe. As a proof of concept, we also demonstrate the molecular specificity of this technique in the presence of a competing sugar, such as fructose. High sensitivity, flexibility, reproducibility, low cost, small sampling volume, and in situ remote sensing capability make PCF a very powerful platform for potential glucose detection based on Raman spectroscopy.