Patent ID: 7906316
Filing Date: 2011-03-15
Classification: B82Y,C12Q,G01N,Y10S

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for sensing molecules, comprising: a membrane layer having opposing sides through which parallel pores extend, each of the pores having a sidewall to which probe molecules are fixed, the probe molecules being selected to bind with corresponding target molecules when the target molecules are present in the pores; a substrate layer, fixed to one of the opposing sides of the membrane layer, including a plurality of through-holes formed therein, each of the through-holes having a cross-sectional area that encompasses a plurality of the pores; a common electrode adjacent one of the opposing sides of the membrane layer; and a plurality of through-hole electrodes on the other of the opposing sides of the membrane layer, each adjacent one of the through-holes; an ionic solution for carrying the target molecules, the ionic solution being in fluid communication with the common electrode, the pores, the through-holes, and the through-hole electrodes; a first circuit, electrically coupled to the through-hole electrodes, that energizes a selected through-hole electrode and its corresponding through-hole so as to cause electrical currents to flow, between the common and selected through-hole electrode, only through the plurality of pores encompassed by the selected through-hole, a second circuit, electrically coupled to the through-hole electrodes, that measures the electrical parameter indicative of the aggregate, concurrent through-pore electrical impedance and, correspondingly, whether there is probe-to-target molecule binding in the pores.