Mass-sensitive transducers crystal microbalances Surface

Various physical transducers can be used to detect interaction of the immobilized DNA probe with the analyte. Commonly used detection systems include optical (MarvUc, 1997 Jordan, 1997 Lee, 2001), electrochemical (Wang, 2001 Palecek, 2001) or mass sensitive devices (Storri, 1998 Ebara, 2000). Considering the growing number of potential applications, simphcity and low cost are some of the major design parameters in both microarray and other biosensor apphcations. Therefore, increased attention has been given to relatively simple detection or sensing techniques such as fluorescence measurements. This method offers faster assays without the need for specific substrate properties such as in the mass-sensitive quartz-crystal microbalance (Storri, 1998 Ebara, 2000) or in more complex optical techniques such as surface plasmon resonance (Jordan, 1997 Lee, 2001). 

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