RF biosensor based on microwave filter for biological cell characterisation

An original new bio-detection method using microwave frequencies has been developed in order to study human cell electrical parameters. The developed biosensor design is based on a two pole microstrip filter architecture using the inter-resonator's planar coupling capacitor as an ultra sensitive biosensing element. In the proposed approach, the bio-detection principle deals with the filter coupling change induced by only few biological cells located on this capacitor. In the present paper, studied cells are grown “on-chip” in the coupling comb capacitor gaps allowing an accurate and sensitive detection at the cell scale. Experimental characterisations results on cancerous glioblatoma human cells are presented showing the biosensor detection capabilities until one single cell detection.