Method of making an electrochemical nanowire assembly and attaching cells thereto

A method of growing crystalline nanowire, comprising:

• providing a metal salt solution where the metal is selected from the group consisting of:
• cobalt, nickel, palladium, platinum, silver, gold, lead, and indium;
• providing a first electrode in the salt solution;
• providing a second electrode in the salt solution;
• attaching the first electrode to a function generator;
• grounding the second electrode;
• selectively providing a voltage signal on the first electrode using the function generator until a nanowire has grown from the first electrode to a target location near a living cell;
• and
• applying a negative bias to the first electrode to stimulate self attachment of the living cell to the first electrode;
• wherein the signal is a square wave with a predetermined magnitude and a selective frequency.

A method of growing a nanowire probe, comprising:

• providing a plurality of electrodes defining an inter-electrode region;
• providing a directed electrochemical nanowire assembly (DENA) compatible salt solution in the inter-electrode region;
• grounding a first one of the plurality of electrodes;
• applying a voltage signal to a second one of the plurality of electrodes to grow the nanowire probe into the inter-electrode region proximate a living Dictyostelium cell;
• and
• applying a negative bias to the second one of the plurality of electrodes to stimulate self attachment of the Dictyostelium cell to the second of the plurality of electrodes.