Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Part III
Material Design and Selection II
The focus in this section is on porous silicon and carbon nanotube technology. These mate-
rials are being applied in the design of new generations of biochips and sensors. In
Chapter 11, Dr. Benjamin Miller covers the use of porous silicon as the base material in the
design of smart “label-free” sensors. Porous silicon can be made by electrochemical etch-
ing silicon wafers to form refractive index detectors, or band gap photonic materials.
These in turn can function as “smart bandages” and “smart dust.” A very good example
presented is the alternative approach to the Gram stain test. In Chapter 12, Xueliang Sun
and Chen-zhong Li focus on nanotube technologies. The processing techniques used to
control the nanostructure of carbon nanotubes and nanowires are first described. The fac-
tors that govern the growth mechanisms of these nanomaterials are presented. Methods
by which carbon nanotubes and nanowires can be functionalized with appropriate agents
for biosensor applications are discussed. This section is followed by a review of interest-
ing new applications of these materials in electrochemical biosensors, field-effect-transis-
tor-based biosensor and nanofabrication of these biosensors. In Chapter 13, Dr. Won-Yong
Lee focuses on carbon nanotube-based electrochemical biosensors. The chapter presents
recent advances in the use of CNT for the construction of electrochemical biosensors.
Common preparation methods for CNT-modified electrodes and their analytical charac-
teristics are next presented. Applications of these CNT-modified amperometric biosensors
based on oxidase or dehydrogenase are provided. DNA biosensors based on the enhanced
detection of the product of the enzyme label or of guanine base in the target DNA is also
given. Finally, the functionalization of the field-effect transistors (FETs) with biomolecules
is discussed.
