Bioelectronics An

Introduction
Bioelectronics
integration of biomolecules with
electronic elements to yield functional
devices
Fundamental requirement of any
bioelectronic system:

1. The existence of electronic coupling and

communication between the
biomolecules and the electronic supports.
Fundamental requirement of any
bioelectronic system:
2. The miniaturization of the bioelectronic
systems is a requisite for future implantable
devices, and these types of applications will
certainly introduce the need for
biocompatibility of the systems. The
miniaturization of the systems will also
require the patterned, dense organization of
biomolecules on electronic supports. Such
organized systems may lead to high
throughput parallel biosensing and to devices
of operational complexity.
Biolectronic devices
Electronic elements
Bioelectronic devices/ instruments
contain electric components such as
sensors, circuits and integrated chips.
electrodes
field-effect transistor devices
piezoelectric crystal
magnetoresistance recording medias
scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) tips
Biomaterials
Biomaterials are materials may be synthetic and
natural (solid and sometimes liquid) that are used in
contact with biological systems or in medical devices.
It has a wide range of application:
- medical devices
- allow growth of cells in culture
- assay for blood proteins in the clinical laboratory
- in processing biomolecules in biotechnology
- for fertility regulation implants in cattle
- in diagnostic gene arrays
- for investigational cell-silicon "biochips"
Bioelectronic devices in dual directions:
the biological event alters the interfacial
properties of the electronic element
readout of the bioreaction by monitoring
the performance of the electronic unit such
as
potential
impedance,
charge transport
surface resistance of electrodes
field-effect transistors, or by
following the resonance frequencies of
piezoelectric crystals.
Major activities in the field of
bioelectronics

Biosensors - transduce biorecognition or

biocatalytic processes in the form of
electronic signals

Utilization of biocatalytic electron transfer

functions of enzymes e.g to assemble
biofuel cells that convert organic fuel
substrates into electrical energy
Nanobiotechnology
metal and semiconductor nanoparticles,
nanorods, nanowires and carbon
nanotubes represent nano-objects with
novel electronic properties
Recent studies revealed that the
integration of these objects with
biomolecules yields new functional
systems that may yield miniaturized
biosensors, mechanical devices and
electronic circuitry.
Figure 3: (A) Neurons on top of a multielectrode array.
(B ) A neuroelectronic hybrid system consisting of two
neurons; the first neuron is activated by a capacitive
stimuli, the signal transmission occurs through a neuronal
network to a second neuron, where the information is
recorded by a transistor.