Nano and Microsensors for Mammalian Cell Studies

This review presents several sensors with dimensions at the nano- and micro-scale used for biological applications. Two types of cantilever beams employed as highly sensitive temperature sensors with biological applications will be presented. One type of cantilever beam is fabricated from composite materials and is operated in the deflection mode. In order to achieve the high sensitivity required for detection of heat generated by a single mammalian cell, the cantilever beam temperature sensor presented in this review was microprocessed with a length at the microscale and a thickness in the nanoscale dimension. The second type of cantilever beam presented in this review was operated in the resonant frequency regime. The working principle of the vibrating cantilever beam temperature sensor is based on shifts in resonant frequency in response to temperature variations generated by mammalian cells. Besides the cantilever beam biosensors, two biosensors based on the electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) used to monitor mammalian cells attachment and viability will be presented in this review. These ECIS sensors have dimensions at the microscale, with the gold films used for electrodes having thickness at the nanoscale. These micro/nano biosensors and their mammalian cell applications presented in the review demonstrates the diversity of the biosensor technology and applications.