The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 11, 2007
Filed:
Oct. 04, 2006
Butrus T. Khuri-yakub, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Calvin F. Quate, Menlo Park, CA (US);
James K. Gimzewski, Santa Monica, CA (US);
Butrus T. Khuri-Yakub, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Calvin F. Quate, Menlo Park, CA (US);
James K. Gimzewski, Santa Monica, CA (US);
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides sensors based on micromachined ultrasonic transducer technology. The sensors preferably include a plurality of sensor elements, but may include only one sensor element. Arrays of sensors are also provided. Sensor elements include a functionalized membrane supported over a substrate by a support frame. The functionalized membrane, support frame and substrate together form a vacuum gap. The sensor element is connected to an electrical circuit, which is configured to operate the sensor element at or near an open circuit resonance condition. The mechanical resonance frequency of the functionalized membrane is responsive to binding of an agent to the membrane. Thus, the sensor element also includes a detector, where the detector provides a sensor output responsive to the mechanical resonance frequency of the sensor element.