Nanostructured microelectrodes and biosensing devices incorporating the same

A biosensing device comprising:

• a substrate;
• at least one electrically conductive lead on the substrate;
• an insulating layer covering the lead, the insulating layer having an aperture exposing a portion of the lead;
• a nanostructured microelectrode adapted by means of an electrocatalytic reporter system to generate a charge in response to a biomolecular stimulus, wherein the nanostructured microelectrode is fractal;
• at least one probe molecule attached to said microelectrode;
• and
• wherein said microelectrode is in electrical communication with the exposed portion of the lead.

A method of carrying out a biosensing process using a biosensing device comprising a nanostructured microelectrode, wherein the nanostructured microelectrode is spiky or fractal and includes a probe attached thereto, said method comprising:

• biasing the microelectrode relative to a reference electrode;
• measuring a reference charge or reference current flow between the microelectrode and the reference electrode;
• exposing the microelectrode to a biomolecular stimulus;
• measuring by means of an electrocatalytic reporter system, a charge or current flow generated at the microelectrode in response to the biomolecular stimulus binding to the probe;
• and
• determining the amount of biomolecular stimulus present by comparing the measured charge or measured current flow against the reference charge or reference current flow.

A method of detecting a biomolecular stimulus using a biosensing device comprising a nanostructured microelectrode, wherein said nanostructured microelectrode is spiky or fractal and includes a probe attached thereto, said method comprising:

• biasing the microelectrode relative to a reference electrode;
• measuring a reference charge or reference current flow between the microelectrode and the reference electrode;
• exposing the microelectrode to a biological sample;
• measuring by means of an electrocatalytic reporter system a charge or current flow generated at the microelectrode in response to the biomolecular stimulus in said biological sample binding to the probe;
• and
• determining the amount of biomolecular stimulus present by comparing the measured charge or measured current flow against the reference charge or reference current flow.

A method of detecting the presence of a biomarker in a biological sample using a biosensing device comprising a nanostructured microelectrode adapted to generate a charge in response to a hybridization or protein-to-protein interaction event, wherein said nanostructured microelectrode is spiky or fractal and includes a probe attached thereto capable of hybridizing or binding to the biomarker of interest, the method comprising:

• biasing the microelectrode relative to a reference electrode;
• measuring a reference charge or reference current flow between the microelectrode and the reference electrode;
• exposing the microelectrode to the biological sample;
• measuring by means of an electrocatalytic reporter system, a charge or current flow generated at the microelectrode in response to the hybridization or interaction of the probe with the biomarker of interest,
• wherein the presence of a charge or current flow as compared to the reference is indicative of the presence of the biomarker of interest.