CMOS-based biosensor systems using integrated nanostructured recognition elements

Rapid advances in point-of-care devices for medical and biomedical diagnostic and therapeutic applications have increased the need for low cost, low power, high throughput, and miniaturized systems. To this end, we developed several optical sensor systems using CMOS detection and processing components and sol-gel derived xerogel recognition elements for monitoring various biochemical analytes. These sensors are based either on the measurement of the luminescence intensity or the excited-state lifetimes of luminophores embedded in the nanostructured xerogel matrices. Specifically, the design and development of CMOS detection and signal processing components and their system integration will be described in detail. Additionally, we will describe the factors that limit the performance of these sensor systems in terms of sensitivity, response time, and dynamic range. Finally, the results obtained for monitoring important biochemical analytes such as oxygen (O2) and glucose will be discussed.