Nanomechanical biosensors: a new sensing tool

Biosensors based on microcantilevers have become a promising tool for directly detecting biomolecular interactions with great accuracy. Microcantilevers translate molecular recognition of biomolecules into nanomechanical motion that is commonly coupled to an optical or piezo-resistive read-out detector system. Biosensors based on cantilevers are a good example of how nanotechnology and biotechnology can go together. High-throughput platforms using arrays of cantilevers have been developed for simultaneous measurement and read-out of hundreds of samples. As a result, many interesting applications have been performed and the first sensor platforms are being commercialized. This review covers the basic working principles and the types of sensor format, the fabrication and the reported applications in chemical and biological analysis, trends in cantilever fabrication, examples of the commercial instrumentation available, and future developments.