Applications of 

Nanobiosensors
Biological Applications 
• DNA Sensors; Genetic monitoring, disease
• Immunosensors; HIV, Hepatitis,other viral diseas, drug testing, environmental monitoring
• Cell-based Sensors; functional sensors, drug testing…
• Point-of-care sensors; blood, urine, electrolytes, gases, steroids, drugs, hormones, proteins
• Bacteria Sensors; (E-coli, streptococcus, other): food industry, medicine, environmental
• Enzyme sensors; diabetics, drug testing

Environmental Applications 
• Detection of environmental pollution and toxicity
• Agricultural monitoring
• Ground water screening
• Ocean monitoring Military Applications
Biomedical Applications of Nanobiosensors
• Detection of diabetes
• Immunoassay (detection of Ab-Ag reaction)
• Application in cancer
• Detection of pathogenic bacteria
Silicon Nanowire Biosensors 
Two dimensional 2D cylindrical nanowires
are more sensitive to adsorbed charges e.g.,
DNA, protein, etc. compared to one
dimensional 1D planar ion-sensitive field-
effect transistor ISFET

The detection limit of a typical 2D nanowire

sensors for the same response time is three
to four orders of magnitude higher
compared to planar 1D sensor
 Working principle
SiNW sensors are typical FET-based devices, which contain source, drain and gate
electrodes.
The source and drain electrodes bridge the semiconductor channel, while the gate
electrode modulates the channel conductance. The SiNW connected between the
source and the drain in the semiconductor channel serves as the sensing component of
the device. The typical structure of SiNW biosensors for the detection of biomolecules
is illustrated in Fig. 1a. To detect a specific target, a receptor molecule, which
recognizes the target molecule, is immobilized on the SiNW surface. As shown in Fig.
1b, taking the example of a n-type immunologically modified SiNW sensor, the
semiconductor channel has a uniform conductance determined by the electron density.
When the surface receptors are exposed to the target molecule, carrying negative
charges, specific binding will lead to a decrease in conductance. The electronic
detection system then collects the conductance.
Three Elements of Nanosensors
The reaction of a sensor is identified by

• Settling time - time taken by the sensor to produce a stable signal change. t is determined by
the concentration of the analyte bio-molecules, ability to bind to the receptor molecules . 

• Sensitivity - the relative change in the attribute of a sensor when a target molecule is attached
on sensor surface. For a range of analyte concentrations, it predicts the relative change in
conductance of the Nanowire sensor at a particular ion concentration.

• Selectively - it is the most important criterion for the biosensor evaluation. The ability of
receptors to bind with the desired target in the presence of various other biomolecules. The
relevant parameters involve geometry of the surface (planar, cylindrical, etc.), footprint of the
molecules
 Simulation: BioSensorLab
BioSensorLab is a numerical simulator tool in nanohub to predict the
performance metrics for various types of label-free, electronic biosensors 
The main purpose of BioSensorLab is provide rough theoretical estimate of the
performance parameters of nanobiosensors (Settling time, Sensitivity and
Selectivity). The theoretical model is based on self-consistent solutions of
Diffusion-Capture model (for the Settling time response),
Poisson-Boltzmann and
Drift-Diffusion Equations (for electrolyte screening and conductance
modulation) and the statistical properties of bio- molecule adsorption
(Selectivity).
Results
Further Discussion