Biological sensing system having micro-electrode array

Abstract

A biological sensing system, comprising a microelectrode array having a plurality of islands that are thermally isolated from each other and are interconnected by flexible nano-scale wires. An embedded complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) instrumentation amplifier and wireless communication circuitry may be operatively connected to the microelectrode array and embedded within input/output pads connected to the wires at the periphery of the array.

1 . A biological sensing system, comprising:
 a microelectrode array having a plurality of islands that are thermally isolated from each other and are interconnected by flexible nano-scale wires; and   an embedded complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) instrumentation amplifier operatively connected to the microelectrode array.   
     
     
         2 . The biological sensing system of  claim 1 , wherein the nano-scale wires have a meandered shape. 
     
     
         3 . The biological sensing system of  claim 1 , wherein the nano-scale wires further connect a portion of the islands to a plurality of input-output (I/O) pads. 
     
     
         4 . The biological sensing system of  claim 3 , wherein the I/O pads comprise a Silicon on Insulator (SOI) layer. 
     
     
         5 . The biological sensing system of  claim 4 , wherein the I/O pads comprise an upper metal layer adjacent to the SOI layer. 
     
     
         6 . The biological sensing system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the islands has an area of less than 500 μm 2 . 
     
     
         7 . The biological sensing system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a computer processor formed within the connected to the amplifier;   a modulation unit connected to the computer processor; and   an antenna connected to the modulation unit, the antenna and modulation unit operative to wirelessly send and receive data to and from an external transceiver.   
     
     
         8 . A method of forming a biological sensing system, comprising:
 providing a CMOS chip, the chip comprising an array of first metal regions in a top layer of the chip and a plurality of second metal regions, the second metal regions having a meandering shape interconnecting areas below the first metal regions;   applying an anisotropic dry etching using Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP), wherein the first metal regions provide masking to form an array of islands in the chip;   depositing a metal oxide layer on sidewalls of the islands to form a protective barrier;   further etching regions between the islands to form an etched region below the interior islands of the array, with the second metal regions interconnecting the islands.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising transfer-printing the electrode array onto a substrate. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the transfer-printing is performed using polydimethylsiloxane as a soft stamp to retrieve the array from the chip.