Discovery could lead to revolutionary handheld disease diagnostic system
Researchers from the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering have found yet another remarkable use for the wonder material graphene—tiny electronic “tweezers” that can grab biomolecules floating in water with incredible efficiency. This capability could lead to a revolutionary handheld disease diagnostic system that could be run on a smart phone.
Graphene, a material made of a single layer of carbon atoms, was discovered more than a decade ago and has enthralled researchers with its range of amazing properties that have found uses in many new applications from microelectronics to solar cells.
The graphene tweezers developed at the University of Minnesota are vastly more effective at trapping particles compared to other techniques used in the past due to the fact that graphene is a single atom thick, less than 1 billionth of a meter.
The research study was published today in Nature Communications, a leading journal in the field of nanomaterials and devices.
The world’s sharpest tweezers
The physical principle of tweezing or trapping nanometer-scale objects, known as dielectrophoresis, has been known for a long time and is typically practiced by using a pair of metal electrodes. From the viewpoint of grabbing molecules, however, metal electrodes are very blunt. They simply lack the “sharpness” to pick up and control nanometer-scale objects.
“Graphene is the thinnest material ever discovered, and it is this property that allows us to make these tweezers so efficient. No other material can come close,” said research team leader Sang-Hyun Oh, a Sanford P. Bordeau Professor in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “To build efficient electronic tweezers to grab biomolecules, basically we need to create miniaturized lightning rods and concentrate huge amount of electrical flux on the sharp tip. The edges of graphene are the sharpest lightning rods.”
The team also showed that the graphene tweezers could be used for a wide range of physical and biological applications by trapping semiconductor nanocrystals, nanodiamond particles, and even DNA molecules. Normally this type of trapping would require high voltages, restricting it to a laboratory environment, but graphene tweezers can trap small DNA molecules at around 1 Volt, meaning that this could work on portable devices such as mobile phones.
Using the University of Minnesota’s state-of-the-art nanofabrication facilities at the Minnesota Nano Center, electrical and computer engineering Professor Steven Koester’s team made the graphene tweezers by creating a sandwich structure where a thin insulating material call hafnium dioxide is sandwiched between a metal electrode on one side and graphene on the other. Hafnium dioxide is a material that is commonly used in today’s advanced microchips.
“One of the great things about graphene is it is compatible with standard processing tools in the semiconductor industry, which will make it much easier to commercialize these devices in the future,” said Koester, who led the effort to fabricate the graphene devices.
“Since we are the first to demonstrate such low-power trapping of biomolecules using graphene tweezers, more work still needs to be done to determine the theoretical limits for a fully optimized device,” said Avijit Barik, a University of Minnesota electrical and computer engineering graduate student and lead author of the study. “For this initial demonstration, we have used sophisticated laboratory tools such as a fluorescence microscope and electronic instruments. Our ultimate goal is to miniaturize the entire apparatus into a single microchip that is operated by a mobile phone.”
Tweezers that can ‘feel’
Another exciting prospect for this technology that separates graphene tweezers from metal-based devices is that graphene can also “feel” the trapped biomolecules. In other words, the tweezers can be used as biosensors with exquisite sensitivity that can be displayed using simple electronic techniques.
“Graphene is an extremely versatile material,” Koester said. “It makes great transistors and photodetectors, and has the potential for light emission and other novel biosensor devices. By adding the capability to rapidly grab and sense molecules on graphene, we can design an ideal low-power electronics platform for a new type of handheld biosensor.”
Oh agrees that the possibilities are endless.
“Besides graphene, we can utilize a large variety of other two-dimensional materials to build atomically sharp tweezers combined with unusual optical or electronic properties,” said Oh. “It is really exciting to think of atomically sharp tweezers that can be used to trap, sense, and release biomolecules electronically. This could have huge potential for point-of-care diagnostics, which is our ultimate goal for this powerful device.”
Learn more: Researchers develop graphene nano ‘tweezers’ that can grab individual biomolecules
The Latest on: Handheld disease diagnostic system
[google_news title=”” keyword=”handheld disease diagnostic system” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
- Machine learning system offers new hope for diagnosis of rare genetic disorderson April 25, 2024 at 11:30 am
The team developed a machine learning system called AI-MARRVEL (AIM) to help prioritize potentially causative variants for Mendelian disorders. The study is published today in NEJM AI. Researchers ...
- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcripton April 25, 2024 at 9:50 am
Q1 2024 Earnings Call April 24, 2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. beats earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $5.67, expectations were $4.7. Operator: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome ...
- Exo adds FDA-cleared AI tools to handheld ultrasound systemon April 25, 2024 at 8:50 am
Exo sees the new capabilities as especially helpful for healthcare providers in rural and under-resourced settings.
- Using AI to improve diagnosis of rare genetic disorderson April 25, 2024 at 6:00 am
Diagnosing rare Mendelian disorders is a labor-intensive task, even for experienced geneticists. Investigators at Baylor College of Medicine are trying to make the process more efficient using ...
- Sniffing Out Disease With “Scentprints”on April 23, 2024 at 1:58 am
In this interview, Technology Networks spoke to Karim Aly, CEO of Noze to find out more about replicating human odor perception and the benefits of breath-based disease detection.
- Global Intravascular Imaging Market Poised for Continued Growth, Forecasted to Surpass US$656.29 Million by 2033, at a 5.4% CAGRon April 18, 2024 at 7:39 am
Global intravascular Imaging Market is projected to reach a valuation of US$ 367.48 Mn in 2022, likely to surge at a vigorous 5.3% CAGR from 2022 – 2032 ...
- RAKXa: is this the new frontier of wellness?on April 16, 2024 at 4:17 am
RAKXa: is this the new frontier of wellness? - Deepak Chopra is on a mission to help us live longer — and better. Dylan Jones checks into his new futuristic retreat ...
- Global Point-of-Care Diagnostics Market Poised for Exponential Growth, Reaching US$ 74.8 Billion by 2033on April 15, 2024 at 8:45 pm
Point-of-Care Diagnostics Market is anticipated to soar to US$ 74.8 billion by 2033 witness a remarkable expansion at a CAGR of 6.8%.
- Gainful Offers Personalized Supplements to Help You Meet Your Goalson April 12, 2024 at 8:10 am
Gainful makes choosing supplements simple, thanks to customizable formulas and free guidance from registered dietitians.
- As AI eye exams prove their worth, lessons for future tech emergeon April 11, 2024 at 5:00 pm
A rendering of a retina provided by Digital Diagnostics ... studies for additional cameras — including a handheld imager that can screen patients in the field — and looking at other eye diseases, like ...
via Google News and Bing News