Modular biosensor reaction-cell

Abstract

An approach to simultaneously monitor the processes of a biosensor transducer surface and the bulk of the sample solution is presented. A novel PDMS (Poly-DiMethyl-Syloxane) based modular biosensor reaction-cell is described, which is suitable for the parallelised electrochemical monitoring of biosensor electrode arrays by means of its dual connector array and for optical spectroscopic monitoring of the bulk of the surrounding sample solution by means of micro transmission dip probes insertable inside the reaction cell. An experimental setup with 280 and 520 mm3 reaction-cell volumes was tested and characterized. 2 x 13 individually addressable electrode connectors were easily realisable in order to meet the requirements of electrochemical functionalities. For the optical spectroscopic capabilities 0.13 O.D. (Optical Density unit), corresponding to 0.68 pmol/&mu l concentration of the DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid) used was found to be the minimum, and 3.43 O.D., corresponding to 20.59 pmol/&mu l concentration of the DNA used was found to be the maximum of the absorbance range which can be monitored with ca. 5\% standard deviation using a certain parameter setting during a certain measurement.