The analytical community continues to search for cost-effective, reliable, and even portable analytical techniques that can give reliable and fast-response results for a variety of biochemicals. Advances in the field of microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and their uses now offer unique opportunities in the design of ultrasensitive analytical devices. Microcantilevers (MCLs) have been emerged as a novel unique platform for label-free biosensor or bioassay. This short review summarizes the biosensors using microcantilever (MCL) technology. DNA-based, antibody-based, enzyme-based, and membrane-based MCL sensors are discussed. The review is intended to provide an experts in this field an overview of MCL biosensors and to help the non-experts in the field to acquire a good understanding of the development of MCL biosensors and the main issues to be considered for further development of this biosensor technique.
HISTORY AND MECHANISM OF MICRO-CANTILEVER (MCL) SENSORSSince the three pioneer papers published in 1994 [1-3], the MCL sensor technology had boomed and become a promising sensor technology. MCL sensors have several advantages over many other sensor technologies, including lower cost, lower point consumption, smaller size, the ability to detect multiple and identify various biochemical on a single chip. The SEM several pictures of MCLs are shown in Fig. (1).Cantilever responses, such as frequency, deflection, quality factor (Q-factor), and amplitude, undergo changes due to adsorption or changes in environment. Both frequency and bending approaches have been demonstrated to detect chemicals with sensitivity as high as parts-per-tillion to parts-per-quadrillion range and, each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages and each will be used for specific applications. For instance, resonance frequency of MCLs has been used to detect very low level pathogens [4,5]; bending approach showed special selectivity toward some chemicals because of it unique mechanism [6].Resonance frequency . The resonance frequency, f, of an oscillating cantilever can be expressed as (1) where K is the spring constant of the MCL and m* is the effective mass of the MCL. The effective mass can be related to the mass of the beam, m b , through the relation: m*=nm b , where n is a geometric parameter. It is clear that the resonance frequency can change due to changes in mass as well as changes in spring constant.Resonance frequency of a MCL (dynamic mode) can be used to detect chemical species in air. However, the oscillation of the cantilever is significantly dampened in aqueous solution, which reduces the quality factor and subsequent detection sensitivity of the MCLs in aqueous solutions. It should be noted that recent results showed that the second resonance frequency of MCLs remains sharp in aqueous solutions [4] and can be used for detecting biomolecules in solutions.