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Grant support

Authors want to acknowledge Antonio Juarez and Rosa Banos, from the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalunya (IBEC), for the preparation of the bacteria samples, Juan Pablo Agusil and Christian Sporer, also from the IBEC for the microcontact printing of the antibodies and Jaume Adan and Francesc Mitjans, from LEITAT Biomed for the preparation of the cell samples. This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion under project TEC2009-10114 and also by the regional Catalan authorities under project VALTEC09-2-0058.

Analysis of institutional authors

Otero, JorgeAuthor

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March 26, 2025
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Nanocharacterization of Soft Biological Samples in Shear Mode with Quartz Tuning Fork Probes

Publicated to:Sensors. 12 (4): 4803-4819 - 2012-04-01 12(4), DOI: 10.3390/s120404803

Authors: Otero, Jorge; Gonzalez, Laura; Puig-Vidal, Manel

Affiliations

Univ Barcelona, SIC BIO, Bioelect & Nanobioengn Grp, Dept Elect, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain - Author

Abstract

Quartz tuning forks are extremely good resonators and their use is growing in scanning probe microscopy. Nevertheless, only a few studies on soft biological samples have been reported using these probes. In this work, we present the methodology to develop and use these nanosensors to properly work with biological samples. The working principles, fabrication and experimental setup are presented. The results in the nanocharacterization of different samples in different ambients are presented by using different working modes: amplitude modulation with and without the use of a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) and frequency modulation. Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria are imaged in nitrogen using amplitude modulation. Microcontact printed antibodies are imaged in buffer using amplitude modulation with a PLL. Finally, metastatic cells are imaged in air using frequency modulation.

Keywords

AfmAmplitudeAtomic force microscopyDynamicLiving cellsMicroscopyNanocharacterizatioNanocharacterizationProteinsSpectroscopyTuning fork

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Sensors due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2012, it was in position 8/57, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Instruments & Instrumentation.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 1.99, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-02, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 18
  • Europe PMC: 9

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-02:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 37.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 36 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 3.25.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Otero Diaz, Jorge) .