Microelectro-optical DNA array sensor

We describe a micro electro-optical DNA array sensor whose main features are that it is rapid, sensitive, highly accurate and capable of detecting more than one analyte. These features are the consequence of electronic control of three key elements of DNA assays, namely: concentration of the target molecules at the analysis sites, hybridization of the DNA targets to capture probes and discrimination of complementary DNA from non-complementary DNA. The assays are monitored using a scanning confocal optical platform for fluorescence detection. A finite-element based computational model for determining electric field distribution at the biochip electrode array and electrophoretic transport of DNA species is built and analyzed. Comparison of theoretical results for electrophoretic DNA accumulation with those obtained from experiments and a simple analytical model is presented.