Preliminary Glycerine Tests using Quartz Crystal Resonator based biosensor for medical diagnosis

Abstract

Quartz crystal resonators (QCR) are piezoelectric elements that, when excited with a sinusoidal signal at its resonance frequency, their impedance will reach a minimum value. According to Sauerbrey [1] and Kanazawa [2], when the crystal is in contact with a mass (solidf ilm) or with a fluid, its resonance frequency changes. These properties allow QCR to have applications in the field of biomedicine [3]. With this prototype it will be possible to measure the viscosity of biological fluids for medical diagnosis, for example, synovial fluid, since the viscosity is a factor in diagnosing diseases such as osteoarthritis or arthritis [4, 5]. On a first stage, we must make sure that the device is capable of measuring viscosity. For this purpose, tests were developed to measure the viscosity of a Newtonian fluid such as a mixture of vegetable glycerin with distilled water.