Patent ID: 7695951

Claim:
A C-shaped microcantilever comprising: three sections including a first section, a second section, and a third section, wherein the first section comprises an end attached to a solid support and the second section has an end attached to the solid support and the third section is attached to the first section and the second section at ends opposite to the ends attached to the solid support and wherein each of the first, second and third sections have a top surface and a bottom surface; and a receptor, wherein a deflection of the ends of the first section and the second section that are attached to the third section and a deflection of a midpoint of the third section is caused by a ligand bound to the receptor, wherein each of the sections has a top surface and a bottom surface and the receptor is immobilized on the top surfaces of the first and second sections and the bottom surface of the third section, or on the bottom surfaces of the first and second sections and the top surface of the third section.