Sensors for analyte detection and methods of manufacture thereof

A method comprising:

• disposing a plurality of thin wires within a conduit;
• the thin wires being electrically separated by an insulating layer;
• cutting the conduit into a thin slice;
• polishing both sides of the conduit to expose a cross-sectional area of the thin wire;
• electrodepositing sacrificial layers on top of all working electrode wires;
• selecting in step #1 a given working electrode wires and electrochemically etch the sacrificial layer on top of the given working electrode wire to expose the cross-sectional surface of the given working electrode wire;
• electrochemically etching in step #2 the exposed cross-sectional area of the thin given working electrode wire to produce nanostructure porosity;
• coating in step #3 the exposed cross-sectional area with electro-catalytic moieties suitable for the catalysis of a given redox species;
• performing in step #4 an electrochemical cleaning process to preserve activity in the working electrode;
• electrodepositing in step #5 a thin film of permselective membrane to increase selectivity against a given redox species, while retaining significant amount of said activity of the working electrode;
• depositing in step #6 a variety of analyte specific enzymes onto said permselective membrane to render the working, reference and counter electrodes operative to detect a variety of analytes via an electrochemical oxidation or reduction reaction;
• selecting a different working electrode and performing steps #1 to #6 to grow a different enzymatic sensor element;
• selecting a different working electrode and performing steps #1 to #4 or steps #1 to #5 to realize background sensors for the corresponding enzymatic sensor elements;
• connecting a cross-sectional are of the thin wire that is opposed to the etched cross-sectional area to an active matrix that is in turn connected to an appropriate microelectronic device for signal detection;
• where the active matrix switches and interrogates different thin wires.