Biosensor chip to help drug development

Infineon in co-operation with the Max Planck Institute, has succeeded in finding a new biosensor chip, called a Neuro-Chip, which researchers claim is a breakthrough technology that will help scientific researchers to gain new insights into the biologic function of neurons, nerve tissue and organic neural networks. Infineon's Neuro-Chip is based on a standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology extended with additional process steps to realize the capacitive sensors array. Researchers successfully demonstrated the chip by connecting it with living nerve cells and reading electrical signals produced by the cells. The Neuro-Chip, in the field of drug development, will enable tests of the effects of new pharmaceutical compounds on living neurons, contributing to greater efficiency and productivity in research. The findings of the study presented in the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), also included the first report on measurements of electrical signals from live neurons.