Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
nitrogen species were detected, which they attributed to discrete
vesicular release events of these reactive species by the cell.
217
3. Lab-On-A-Chip
One area where there is a clear need for miniaturization of elec-
trodes is in lab-on-a-chip detection. The advantage of chip-based
sensors is that some of selectivity and sensitivity issues may be
avoided by combining electrochemical detection with purification,
separation, and preconcentration techniques. There is also the pos-
sibility for integration of electronic components that will lead to
more advanced handheld sensing devices, as shown in
Fig. 11
. Zhu
and Ahn demonstrated a coulometry based system to detect p-
aminophenol interacting with the working electrode. Importantly,
the required electronics can be integrated onto a single chip by
utilizing CMOS technology.
218
The combination of fluidic systems with electrochemical de-
tection offers automation and quantitative control over experi-
mental conditions. This is especially important for cellular studies.
As a result, many applications involving single-cell analysis on a
chip have already been demonstrated.
219
In these types of experi-
ments, the extracellular environment can be controlled very accu-
rately. As the field matures, it is expected that system biology ex-
periments will be conducted where discrete signals are obtained
simultaneously from dozens or even hundreds of cells on a single
device.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The continued support of the Lemay lab by NWO, NanoNed and
FOM is gratefully acknowledged.
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