A new real time biomimetic membrane biosensor based on a capacitive readout ASIC for antibiotics

A real time CMOS based capacitive membrane biosensor has been developed for the first time. The major advantages of the applied biosensor principle are label-free detection and short measurement times of a few milliseconds, enabling the observation of fast signal changes and dynamic processes. The sensor integrates an immobilised tethered bilayer lipid membrane on an ultra-smooth gold electrode surface. The antibiotic valinomycin allows ions passing through the highly resistive membrane and change the permittivity of the spacer region underneath the membrane. A switched capacitor readout ASIC detect the small capacitive changes in real time at low noise. Thus, the here developed biosensor principle has a great potential for highly sensitive low-noise onlinemonitoring applications.