A configurable IC to contol, readout, and calibrate an array of biosensors

Abstract

We present a novel integrated circuit for a biosensing data acquisition chain. The circuit controls and reads out five bimolecular sensors as well as pH and temperature sensors for biosensor calibration. The IC supports both chronoamper-ometry (CA) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements, which are commonly used in biosensing. Different voltage waveforms are generated to control CV by using a single configurable waveform generator and programmable constant voltage levels are produced to enable CA. To reduce the area and power consumption of the interface electronics, a unified circuit is designed for CV, CA and pH readout. The biosensors produce currents that are converted by a 13.5-bit sigma delta analog to digital converter. The circuit has been designed and realized in 0.18 μW technology. It consumes 711 μW from a 1.8 V supply voltage, making it suitable for remotely powered and implantable applications.