Finite Element Analysis on Nanomechanical Detection of Small Particles: Toward Virus Detection.

Gaku Imamura,Genki Yoshikawa,Kota Shiba

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00488

Gaku Imamura, Genki Yoshikawa + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00488

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Abstract

Detection of small particles, including viruses and particulate matter (PM), has been attracting much attention in light of increasing need for environmental monitoring. Owing to their high versatility, a nanomechanical sensor is one of the most promising sensors which can be adapted to various monitoring systems. In this study, we present an optimization strategy to efficiently detect small particles with nanomechanical sensors. Adsorption of particles on the receptor layer of nanomechanical sensors and the resultant signal are analyzed using finite element analysis (FEA). We investigate the effect of structural parameters (e.g., adsorption position and embedded depth of a particle and thickness of the receptor layer) and elastic properties of the receptor layer (e.g., Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio) on the sensitivity. It is found that a membrane-type surface stress sensors (MSS) has the potential for robust detection of small particles.

Highlights

Nanomechanical sensors have been attracting great attention because of their versatility
We investigate the nanomechanical detection of particles using finite element analysis (FEA)
We focus on the two types of nanomechanical sensors; cantilevertype sensors and membrane-type surface stress sensor (MSS), and explore an optimized structure for the efficient detection of particles through the mechanical stress induced in the receptor layer

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Nanomechanical sensors have been attracting great attention because of their versatility They can detect diverse chemical species ranging from gaseous to biological molecules, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), DNA, and proteins (Barnes et al, 1994; Gimzewski et al, 1994; Thundat et al, 1994; Buchapudi et al, 2011). In 2011, a membrane-type surface stress sensor (MSS) was developed and achieved both high sensitivity and small size by means of structural optimization with chipintegrated piezoresistive read-out (Yoshikawa et al, 2011) This MSS platform demonstrated the detection of proteins using a simple dipping system that is compatible with a standard 96-well plate for practical assays (Hosokawa et al, 2014). We discuss the perspective on virus detection using these nanomechanical sensors

MATERIALS AND METHODS

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DISCUSSION