CMOS Chip as Luminescent Sensor for Biochemical Reactions

We describe a novel biochemical sensing method and its potential new biosensing applications. A light-sensitive complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip prepared through a standard 0.5m CMOS process was developed for measuring biochemical reactions. A light producing enzymatic reaction catalyzed by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was designed as a platform reaction to determine the concentration of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) by the CMOS chip with a standard semiconductor parameter analyzer (HP4145). The kinetics of enzymatic reaction were determined and compared with a standard and sophisticated fluorometer (Hitachi F-4500) in a biochemical laboratory. Similar results were obtained by both instruments. Using glucose oxidase as an example, we further demonstrated that the HRP platform can be used to determine other H2O2 producing reactions with the CMOS system. The result points to an important application of the CMOS chip in biological measurements and in diagnosis of various health factors.