Impedimetric detection system and method of production thereof

A method of producing a sensor, said method comprising the steps of:

• forming a plurality of interspaced channels in an insulating layer, said channels having the same direction, each channel of said channels having a bottom and two opposite side walls and hills, said hills being located at the end(s) of planes between said channels, having a height which is larger than the width of the channels, and overlapping the plane between said channels and part of two adjacent channels;
• depositing a metal layer on said insulating layer while aligning said insulating layer with respect to a metal deposition source such that the bottom of said channels and the side-walls of said channels along deposition direction are shielded and not covered by metal to thereby form and impedance comprising electrodes;
• and
• optionally applying probes for binding to molecular structures present in a sample to be tested, and said probes being immobilized on either the insulating part of the channels and/or on the surface of the electrodes.

A sensor apparatus for identifying molecular structures within a sample solution, comprising:

• a plurality of sensors, wherein said sensor comprises:
• an insulating layer with a plurality of interspaced channels therein having the same direction, each channel of said channels having a bottom and two opposite side-walls and hills, said hills being located at the end(s) of planes between said channels, having a height which is larger than the width of the channels, and overlapping the plane between said channels and part of two adjacent channels;
• a metal coating being applied on at least part of one of said two opposite side walls of each channel and on at least part of the top of the insulating layer in-between said channels thereby forming part of an impedimetric device comprising 2 electrodes;
• optionally an additional insulating layer applied above said sensor in order to confine the electrical field in said channel between the two separated parts of said metal coating;
• apparatus for applying a voltage on the metal coatings;
• and
• apparatus for measuring the electrical properties or the impedance in-between the electrodes of the sensors to determine which probes have bonded to their target molecule(s).

A method for identifying molecular structures within a sample solution comprising the steps of:

• applying said sample solution to a plurality of sensors, each sensor having one or more probes applied therein to bond with an associated target molecular structure, and each sensor comprising:
• an insulating layer with a plurality of interspaced channels therein having the same direction, each channel of said channels having a bottom and two opposite side-walls and hills, said hills being located at the end(s) of planes between said channels, having a height which is larger than the width of the channels, and overlapping the plane between said channels and part of two adjacent channels;
• a metal coating being applied on at least part of one of said two opposite side walls of each channel and on at least part of the top of the insulating layer in-between said channels thereby forming part of an impedimetric device comprising 2 electrodes;
• applying an electronic signal to the sensor;
• and
• measuring the electrical properties of the sensor to determine which probes have bonded to their target molecular structure(s) such that a plurality of different targets can be detected.

A sensor assembly comprising:

• a first part comprising an array of sensors, said array being a geometric configuration of the sensors, wherein said sensor comprises:
• an insulating layer with a plurality of interspaced channels therein having the same direction, each channel of said channels having a bottom and two opposite side-walls and hills, said hills being located at the end(s) of planes between said channels, having a height which is larger than the width of the channels, and overlapping the plane between said channels and part of two adjacent channels;
• a metal coating being applied on at least part of one of said two opposite side walls of each channel and on at least part of the top of the insulating layer in-between said channels thereby forming part of an impedimetric device comprising 2 electrodes;
• wherein the different sensors of the array being parallel to one another;
• a second part comprising an array of containers to which probes are attached;
• and
• with said first and said second parts being brought into contact in such a way that said array of containers corresponds to said array of sensors.

A method for identifying molecular structures within a sample solution comprising the steps of:

• applying said sample solution to a plurality of sensors, said plurality of sensors forming an array, said array being a geometric configuration of the sensors, wherein each sensor has one or more probes applied therein to bond with their target molecular structure and comprises:
• an insulating layer, with a plurality of interspaced channels therein having the same direction, each channel of said channels having a bottom and two opposite side-walls and hills, said hills being located at the end(s) of planes between said channels, having a height which is larger than the width of the channels, and overlapping the plane between said channels and part of two adjacent channels;
• a metal coating being applied on at least part of one of said two opposite side-walls of each channel and on at least part of the top of the insulating layer in between said channels thereby forming part of an impedimetric device comprising 2 electrodes;
• the different sensors of the array being substantially parallel to one another along said direction;
• applying an electronic signal to the sensor;
• and
• measuring the electrical properties of the sensor to determine which probes have bonded to their target molecular structure(s) such that a plurality of different targets can be detected.

A method for identifying molecular structures within a sample solution comprising the steps of:

• applying said sample solution to a plurality of sensors, each sensor having one or more probes applied therein to bond with their target molecular structure and obtainable by a method comprising the steps of:
• forming a plurality of interspaced channels in an insulating layer, said channels having the same direction, each channel of said channels having a bottom and two opposite side-walls and hills, said hills being located at the end(s) of planes between said channels, having a height which is larger than the width of the channels, and overlapping the plane between said channels and part of two adjacent channels;
• depositing a metal layer on said insulating layer while aligning said insulating layer with respect to a metal deposition source such that the bottom of said channels and the side-walls of said channels along deposition direction are shielded and not covered by metal to thereby form an impedance comprising electrodes;
• and
• optionally applying probes for binding to molecular structures present in a sample to be tested, said probes being immobilized on either the insulating part of the channels and/or on the surface of the electrodes;
• applying an electronic signal to the sensor;
• and
• measuring the electrical properties of the sensor to determine which probes have bonded to their target molecular structure(s) such that a plurality of different targets can be detected, wherein said sensor has one or more types of probes selected from the group consisting of oligonucleotide probes, antibody probes, antigen probes, and peptide probes applied therein.