Timko Brian P, Cohen-Karni Tzahi, Qing Quan, Tian Bozhi, Lieber Charles M
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA. He is now with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA.
IEEE Trans Nanotechnol. 2010 May;9(3):269-280. doi: 10.1109/TNANO.2009.2031807.
Nanowire FETs (NWFETs) are promising building blocks for nanoscale bioelectronic interfaces with cells and tissue since they are known to exhibit exquisite sensitivity in the context of chemical and biological detection, and have the potential to form strongly coupled interfaces with cell membranes. We present a general scheme that can be used to assemble NWs with rationally designed composition and geometry on either planar inorganic or biocompatible flexible plastic surfaces. We demonstrate that these devices can be used to measure signals from neurons, cardiomyocytes, and heart tissue. Reported signals are in millivolts range, which are equal to or substantially greater than those recorded with either planar FETs or multielectrode arrays, and demonstrate one unique advantage of NW-based devices. Basic studies showing the effect of device sensitivity and cell/substrate junction quality on signal magnitude are presented. Finally, our demonstrated ability to design high-density arrays of NWFETs enables us to map signal at the subcellular level, a functionality not enabled by conventional microfabricated devices. These advances could have broad applications in high-throughput drug assays, fundamental biophysical studies of cellular function, and development of powerful prosthetics.
纳米线场效应晶体管（NWFETs）是用于与细胞和组织构建纳米级生物电子接口的很有前景的组件，因为已知它们在化学和生物检测方面表现出极高的灵敏度，并且有潜力与细胞膜形成强耦合界面。我们提出了一种通用方案，可用于在平面无机或生物相容性柔性塑料表面上组装具有合理设计的组成和几何形状的纳米线。我们证明这些器件可用于测量来自神经元、心肌细胞和心脏组织的信号。报告的信号在毫伏范围内，等于或大大高于用平面场效应晶体管或多电极阵列记录的信号，并展示了基于纳米线的器件的一个独特优势。本文展示了关于器件灵敏度和细胞/底物连接质量对信号幅度影响的基础研究。最后，我们展示的设计高密度NWFET阵列的能力使我们能够在亚细胞水平绘制信号图，这是传统微制造器件所不具备的功能。这些进展可能在高通量药物检测、细胞功能的基础生物物理研究以及强大假肢的开发中具有广泛应用。
