Sensor system and methods of making

Inventors

Khosravi, Farhad • Bastable, David • Dryga, Sergey A.

Assignees

NanoDx Inc

Abstract

Sensors having an advantageous design and methods for fabricating such sensors are generally provided. Some sensors described herein comprise pairs of electrodes having radial symmetry, pairs of nested electrodes, and/or nanowires. Some embodiments relate to fabricating electrodes by methods in which nanowires are deposited from a fluid contacted with a substrate in a manner such that it evaporates and is replenished.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to a bodily-fluid sensing nanowire electrode sensor architecture in which a sensor comprises a plurality of pairs of electrodes and a plurality of nanowires. For greater than or equal to 10% of the pairs of electrodes, the two electrodes making up the pair are in electrical communication by exactly one nanowire. The nanowires are provided as two or more groups that are functionalized with different chemistries.

The described architecture includes radial symmetry motifs and nested or nested-parallel motifs, including an arrangement centered at a center point. Nanowires are electrically connected to the electrode pairs and are optionally oriented tangentially in circular “coffee ring” nanowire structures that arise from a deposition process involving nanowires deposited from a nozzle onto a substrate during nanowire fluid evaporation and replenishment.

The invention further describes managing nonspecific interactions and charge screening using blocking/passivation layers, and includes electrically insulating layers and external removable layers. The sensor nanowires can be functionalized with different chemistries and binding entities for target analytes, and can include gating electrodes such as a water gate, back gate, and ground, for electrical control within fluid sensing contexts.

Claims Coverage

The claims cover a sensor with two or more groups of nanowires functionalized with different chemistries, where for greater than or equal to 10% of electrode pairs the electrodes are electrically connected by exactly one nanowire. The independent claim is refined by dependent claims that add quantitative constraints on nanowire length and electrode-pair count, specify positional relationships for electrode pairs, and define additional functional elements and output context.

Overall, claim coverage centers on electrically linking paired electrodes through exactly one nanowire for at least 10% of the electrode pairs, while using two or more differently functionalized groups of nanowires. Dependent claims further constrain nanowire length and electrode-pair count, define an equidistance relationship from a central point, add nucleic-acid complement functionalization for genetic sequence detection, and specify an output signal indicative of protein/biomarker concentration in a fluid.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications