Melexis looks to connected smart biosensors
Belgian chip designer Melexis is developing high speed analog sensing for biosensors and combining this with Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity.
This could be used for smart connected bandages for medical applications and can be powered by local radio energy from an NFC reader.
The company is patenting a processing approach that cuts the measurement time for a bioFET. This is a transistor with a layer of bio material as a liquid gate to detect specific biological molecules, or biomarkers. This changes the voltage of the transistor channel as the biological materials interact.
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The new approach will track the position of the output curve of the transistor to measure the concentration of the biomarker without having to do a full voltage sweep. This can potentially give a reading in milliseconds.
Melexis has developed a compact PCB as a demonstration system with an optimised feedback loop. This takes 10 to 15 minutes to provide a reading, mainly as a result of the time it takes for the microfluidic input to deliver fluid to the sensor.
The company is looking at developing a mixed signal silicon chip supporting an array of 48 bioFETs that could have many different detection materials. These bioFETs could be on a silicon substrate but could also use 2D materials.
The company is also looking to acquire IP for BLE to integrate into the mixed signal chip.
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