Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Micro-/nanofabrication and manipulate tools
Self-assembly
Nano/micro pattern
Electrospun
Microfluidic
Microcontact printing
etc.
Photolithography
X-ray lithography
E-beam lithography
Micro-/nonotemplate
etc.
Atomic force microcopy
(AFM)
Magnetic twisting cytometry
(MTC)
etc.
Applied into biology
Molecular level
Cellular level
Organism level
Quantitative assay
Integrative biology
Figure 21.1
(See companion CD for color igure.)
. Nano/microtechnology. is. applied. into. biological. ield. for. integrative.
biology.research.
21.2 Integrative Biology Focusing on Cellular-Level
Research with Nano/Microtechnologies
The. activities. of. cellular. system. still. remain. a. tremendous. mystery,. and. even. many.
biological.phenomena.and.mechanisms.have.not.been.revealed.till.now..Cells,.especially.
animal.cells,.are.from.a.few.micrometers.to.a.few.tens.of.micrometers.in.size.and.round.or.
irregular.shaped.in.morphology.depending.on.cell.type.and.growth.pattern..The.cell.as.a.
basic.unit.in.the.whole.living.system.plays.a.pivotal.role.in.the.architecture.of.the.speciic.
structure. and. in. exploiting. the. corresponding. functions. with. the. extracellular. matrix.
(ECM). and. molecules. in. a. complex. manner.. In. order. to. investigate. biological. processes.
and. mechanisms. related. to. cell. components. (including. the. cell. membrane,. cell. plasma,.
and. cell. nuclei),. essential. tools. and. methods. offer. preconditions. to. guarantee. that. these.
research.works.go.further.
Nanofabrication.is.an.important.strategy.to.provide. the.nanoscale.structure.or.device.
for. monitoring. cell. activity. and. validating. biological. events.. Many. scientists. with. mul-
tidisciplinary. background. have. worked. together. to. explore. micro/nanotechnologies. for.
biological-related.studies.
The. Lieber. group. at. Harvard. University. irstly. developed. a. 3D. nanoscale. ield-effect.
transistor. (nanoFET). device. with. a. highly. localized. bioprobe. for. extracelluar,. both.
extracellular.and.intracellular,.and.fully.intracellular.signals.including.cellular.potential.
and. biological. macromolecules. detection.. The. nanoFET's. advantages. are. demonstrated.
in. the. simple. design. of. an. electrical. recording. with. kinked. nanowire. probes.. These.
nanoprobes.offer.less.chemical.invasion,.small.size,.and.biomimetic.coating.that.minimizes.
mechanical.invasiveness.and.provides.high.spatial.and.temporal.recording.resolution..The.
fabrication.is.completed.via.the.synthetic.integration.of.a.nanoFET.device.at.the.tip.of.an.
acute-angle.kinked.silicon.nanowire,.where.nanoscale.connections.are.made.by.the.arms.
of. the. kinked. nanostructure. and. a. remote. multilayer. interconnects. allowing. 3D. probe.
formation. (Tian. et. al.. 2010).. Scientists. demonstrated. the. application. of. this. 3D. nanoFET.
