New Trends in Fiber-Optic Chemical and Biological Sensors

The most relevant contributions in the field of fiber-optic chemical sensors and biosensors in the last five years are reviewed. Gas optodes (including oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and ammonia), humidity sensors, monitors for pH, cations and anions, and sensors for organic compounds constitute the different sections. Optical fiber biosensors based on enzymes, antibodies, nucleic acids and whole microorganisms serve to illustrate the state-of-the-art in this active area. Selected examples of absorbance-based, luminescent, evanescent wave, Fabry-Perot, chemiluminescent and surface plasmon resonance-based sensors and biosensors, among other techniques used for interrogate the sensitive part of the devices, are described.