An Inductance-based Sensor for DNA Hybridization Detection

This paper introduces an inductance-based sensor for detection of DNA hybridization and investigates its performance by means of computer simulation. In order to detect the occurrence of hybridization, single strand target DNA's are tagged with magnetic beads. Target DNA's are then exposed to known single strand probe DNA's which are immobilized on a surface in the proximity of a spiral coil with a specific design. After hybridization, the expected variations in the coil inductance due to presence of magnetic beads are studied for different coils as well as magnetic beads of different sizes and permeabilities. The simulation results are presented and discussed in order to obtain optimal coil parameters with the aim of producing maximum variations in the coil inductance.