MEMS based capacitive biosensor for real time detection of bacterial growth

A biosensor based on the measurement of capacitance changes has been designed and fabricated for simple and realtime detection of bacteria. Compared to an impedance measurement technique, the capacitance measurement can make additional measurement circuits simpler, which improves a compatability for integration between the sensor and circuit. The fabricated sensor was characterized by detecting Escherichia coli(E. coli). The capacitance changes measured by the sensor were proportional to E. coli cell density, and the proposed sensor could detect $1{\times}10^6$ cfu/ml E. coli at least. The real-time detection was verified by measuring the capacitance every 20 minutes. After 7 hours of E. coli growth experiment, the capacitance of the sensor in the micro volume well with $4.5{\times}10^5$ cfu/ml of initial E. coli density increased by 20 pF, and that in another wells with $1.5{\times}10^6$ cfu/ml and $8.5{\times}10^7$ cfu/ml initial E. coli density increased by 56 pF and 71 pF, respectively. The proposed sensor has a possibility of the real-time detection for bacterial growth, and can detect E. coli cells with $1.8{\times}10^5$ cfu in nutrient broth in 5 hours.

실시간 박테리아 감지를 위한 정전용량방식의 MEMS 바이오센서