Interrogation of the dynamics of magnetic microbeads on the meso-scale via electromagnetic detection

Abstract

Hybrid devices based on wholly bio-organic systems being interfaced with wholly inorganic systems are now being conceived of and constructed. A hypothetical device is likely to have some dynamic attributes and its dimensions will optimally be comparable with those of the current state of the art in microfabrication. While there are many established methods for interrogating the organic system in the laboratory, and thus extract information, few of those are compatible with micro/nano-technological integration. If magnetic dipoles can be incorporated into the biosystem, then there are a number of methods for non-intrusive interrogation (i.e. compatible with device functionality). Several such methods are discussed, and typical signal strengths are estimated for generic configurations. The most promising avenues arise either from detection of multiple parallel events, or from deployment of a scaled-down version of the well known vibrating loop method.