Nanoscale Sensors for Health Monitoring in Prolonged Space Missions.

We present a nanoscale biomolecule sensor for use in immune system monitoring in astronauts on long space flights in conditions of microgravity. Silicon nanowire based sensors were fabricated in single crystal Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) wafers and have a footprint of approximately 1 μm. The versatile sensing transduction mechanism, through functionalization of the nanowire surface, allows for sensor adaptation to many relevant biomolecular targets. The ability to directly read out sensor data electronically eliminates the need for large optical analysis equipment necessary in traditional biomolecule sensing devices. Despite the fact that the sensors were found to have excellent transistor characteristics and promising results have been previously reported, much work remains in making the sensors behave in a more reliable and reproducible fashion necessary for critical tasks such as health monitoring.