Efficient DNA sensing with fabricated silicon nanopores: diagnosis methodology and algorithms

Novel advances in fluidic MEMS sensor/sensor electronics design utilizing silicon nanopores have opened the possibility of accurate and "portable" field diagnosis of DNA molecules. Currently, a DC stimulus is used to "push (translocate)" each molecule through a silicon nanopore and the translocation time of the molecule through the nanopore is used to estimate its length. In this paper, it is shown that polymer transport models, combined with knowledge of the electrical forces exerted on each molecule by application of a (calibrated) stimulus to the sensor electrodes, allows much more fine-grained diagnosis of DNA molecules than it is currently possible. Hence, by proper stimulus design, the efficiency of the DNA sensing using silicon sensors can be improved significantly without incurring any additional hardware overhead.