Patent ID: 7922976

Claim:
A sensing device comprising: at least one light source; at least one nano-chip, the nano-chip further comprising: at least one substrate including; at least one transmitting element having a core, an input end, and an output end, and at least one dielectric system surrounding the transmitting element along at least two sides thereof, said dielectric system further including: a lattice comprised of a periodic arrangement of one selected from a group consisting of dielectric rods, and air holes disposed in a dielectric material, such that the dielectric system exhibits a photonic band-gap; wherein, the transmitting element core having a different refractive index than the surrounding dielectric system, forms a waveguide; and one or more predetermined receptors placed within the dielectric system in a location that is one selected from a group consisting of spaces between said dielectric rods and spaces inside the air holes, respectively; wherein the one or more predetermined receptors are disposed for absorbing one or more agents that is one selected from a group consisting of chemical agents, biological agents and biological cells, and wherein at least a first optical signal from the light source transmitted between the input and output ends of the transmitting element core before said one or more agents are absorbed, exhibits no substantial loss in optical signal, and at least a second optical signal transmitted through the transmitting element core between the input and the output ends after absorbing the one or more agents exhibits a loss in optical signal power resulting from a change in the difference between the refractive indices of the transmitting element core and the dielectric system effected through a change in the refractive index of the dielectric system at least one detector; and at least one processing circuit wherein the processing circuit further includes, a signal integration unit, a filter and sampling unit, a read out unit, and a monitoring unit, such that said detector detects and converts, the first and second optical signals to corresponding first and second electrical signals, and the processing circuit upon receiving the first and second electrical signals integrates the respective first and second electrical signals over a predetermined time period thereby, respectively generating amplified first and second signals, filters signal noise, and generates corresponding first and second digital samples from the first and second amplified signals, respectively, calculates a power factor from the first and second amplified signals, identifies the absorbed one or more agents according to the predetermined receptor type, correlates the calculated power factor to the density and molecular weight of the absorbed one or more agents stored in the read out unit, to determine concentration of the absorbed agents, and displays data which is also available for remote monitoring.