Magnetic Sensors for Diagnostic Medicine: CMOS-Based Magnetic Particle Detectors for Medical Diagnosis Applications

There is an ever-increasing yet unmet market demand for high-performance biosensors that can reliably interface with the biological entities under test and accurately interpret the microscopic biochemical processes by readily measurable signals. These sensors will provide radical solutions to future medical diagnosis applications. Such sensors need to provide high sensitivity, large dynamic range, and handheld portability all within a low price tag to be qualified as functionally and economically viable products. Once fully developed, they can serve as a portable molecular level medical diagnostic platform to address applications such as low-cost home health care, epidemic disease control, bio-threat detection, and environmental monitoring [1], [2]. In parallel, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), as one of the most mature integrated circuit (IC) processes, has gained increased attention among the biosensors and bioelectronics community. The modern CMOS process provides high-performance signal receiving and generation, unparalleled on-chip computation, and low cost at a mass-production level. As a result, CMOS ICs naturally offer a powerful, versatile, and cost competitive platform for implementing integrated biosensors.