A versatile QCM matrix system for online and high-throughput bio-sensing

A 3 x 3 quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor matrix, fabricated on an A-T cut quartz crystal, has the ability to detect online a variety of labeled DNA samples in a parallel and comparative fashion. The QCM matrix was equipped with a single oscillator circuit, which activated only one QCM at any given time, and was controlled by programmable time-shared electronic relays. The gold electrode had a diameter of 0.8 mm and operated at a fundamental resonating frequency of 40 MHz; the dimensions of the matrix were 1.2 cm x 1.2 cm. The sensitivity of an individual QCM was in the pictogram regime. Selected QCMs were coated with either streptavidin or the anti-DIG antibody; the specificity of their detections was monitored using various concentrations of samples of biotin- and DIG-labeled DNA. The basic design of the QCM matrix is readily expandable, without any conceivable difficulties, in both geometry and circuitry.