Patent ID: 8399262

Claim:
A biosensor for detecting the presence and/or amount of a biomolecule in a sample, comprising: a) a housing; b) a sensing component, the sensing component comprising: (i) a string-like material contacting an electrolytic gel; (ii) colloidal gold nanoparticles linked to the string-like material, wherein the nanoparticles are each coated with a self-assembling monolayer (“SAM”), and wherein a portion of the SAM on the nanoparticles links the nanoparticles to the string-like material and another portion of the SAM on the nanoparticles links the nanoparticles to a capture molecule; (iii) at least two electrodes in contact with the electrolytic gel and configured for impedance detection across the electrolytic gel; c) an impedance measurement circuit coupled to the electrodes of the sensing component; wherein the biosensor is configured to detect the presence and/or amount of the biomolecule in a dry sample in a non-liquid detection reaction.