Patent ID: 8828208

Claim:
A method of sensing an interaction of a molecular entity with a membrane protein in a lipid bilayer or layer of other amphiphilic molecules, the method comprising: providing a sensor device comprising an array of sensor elements each arranged to support a lipid bilayer or layer of other amphiphilic molecules in which a membrane protein is capable of insertion and including respective electrodes, each sensor element being arranged to output an electrical signal at the electrode that is dependent on an interaction of a molecular entity with a membrane protein in the lipid bilayer or layer of other amphiphilic molecules with a quality of performance that is variable depending on whether a membrane is formed and on the number of membrane proteins inserted; providing a detection circuit comprising a plurality of detection channels each capable of amplifying an electrical signal from one of the sensor elements, the number of sensor elements in the array being greater than the number of detection channels; providing a switch arrangement capable of selectively connecting the detection channels to respective sensor elements; controlling the switching arrangement to selectively connect the detection channels to respective sensor elements in respect of which a lipid bilayer or layer of other amphiphilic molecules is formed and an acceptable number of effective membrane proteins on the basis of the amplified electrical signals that are output from the detection channels.