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:
Nov. 20, 2012
Filed:
Sep. 14, 2009
Frans A. Kuypers, El Cerritos, CA (US);
Frans A. Kuypers, El Cerritos, CA (US);
Children's Hospital and Research Center at Oakland, Oakland, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of using Joule heating to regenerate nanowire based biosensors. The nanowire based biosensor contains various detection molecules, such as nucleic acids, bound to the surface of the nanowire. Binding of analyte nucleic acids to the detection molecules alters the electrical properties of the nanowire, producing a detectable signal. By passing a Joule heating effective amount of electrical current through the nanowire, the nanowire may be heated to a temperature sufficient to dissociate the bound analyte from the detection molecule, without damaging the detection molecules or the bond between the detection molecules and the nanowire surface. The Joule heated nanowires may thus be regenerated to an analyte-free 'fresh' state and used for further sensing. In alternate embodiments, the specificity of the nanowire for a particular analyte may be modulated by using Joule heating to heat the nanowire to an intermediate temperature where some analytes bind and some do not.