Biosensing Techniques: Any of a variety of procedures which use biomolecular probes to measure the presence or concentration of biological molecules, biological structures, microorganisms, etc., by translating a biochemical interaction at the probe surface into a quantifiable physical signal.Nanotechnology: The development and use of techniques to study physical phenomena and construct structures in the nanoscale size range or smaller.Conductometry: Determination of the quantity of a material present in a mixture by measurement of its effect on the electrical conductivity of the mixture. (Webster, 3d ed)Silicon: A trace element that constitutes about 27.6% of the earth's crust in the form of SILICON DIOXIDE. It does not occur free in nature. Silicon has the atomic symbol Si, atomic number 14, and atomic weight [28.084; 28.086].Lab-On-A-Chip Devices: Microdevices that combine microfluidics technology with electrical and/or mechanical functions for analyzing very small fluid volumes. They consist of microchannels etched into substrates made of silicon, glass, or polymer using processes similar to photolithography. The test fluids in the channels can then interact with different elements such as electrodes, photodetectors, chemical sensors, pumps, and valves.Electrochemical Techniques: The utilization of an electrical current to measure, analyze, or alter chemicals or chemical reactions in solution, cells, or tissues.Gold: A yellow metallic element with the atomic symbol Au, atomic number 79, and atomic weight 197. It is used in jewelry, goldplating of other metals, as currency, and in dental restoration. Many of its clinical applications, such as ANTIRHEUMATIC AGENTS, are in the form of its salts.Surface Plasmon Resonance: A biosensing technique in which biomolecules capable of binding to specific analytes or ligands are first immobilized on one side of a metallic film. Light is then focused on the opposite side of the film to excite the surface plasmons, that is, the oscillations of free electrons propagating along the film's surface. The refractive index of light reflecting off this surface is measured. When the immobilized biomolecules are bound by their ligands, an alteration in surface plasmons on the opposite side of the film is created which is directly proportional to the change in bound, or adsorbed, mass. Binding is measured by changes in the refractive index. The technique is used to study biomolecular interactions, such as antigen-antibody binding.Molecular Imprinting: A methodology for chemically synthesizing polymer molds of specific molecules or recognition sites of specific molecules. Applications for molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) include separations, assays and biosensors, and catalysis.Streptavidin: A 60-kDa extracellular protein of Streptomyces avidinii with four high-affinity biotin binding sites. Unlike AVIDIN, streptavidin has a near neutral isoelectric point and is free of carbohydrate side chains.Metal Nanoparticles: Nanoparticles produced from metals whose uses include biosensors, optics, and catalysts. In biomedical applications the particles frequently involve the noble metals, especially gold and silver.Transistors, Electronic: Electrical devices that are composed of semiconductor material, with at least three connections to an external electronic circuit. They are used to amplify electrical signals, detect signals, or as switches.Nanowires: Nanometer-scale wires made of materials that conduct electricity. They can be coated with molecules such as antibodies that will bind to proteins and other substances.Semiconductors: Materials that have a limited and usually variable electrical conductivity. They are particularly useful for the production of solid-state electronic devices.Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems: A class of devices combining electrical and mechanical components that have at least one of the dimensions in the micrometer range (between 1 micron and 1 millimeter). They include sensors, actuators, microducts, and micropumps.Microtechnology: Manufacturing technology for making microscopic devices in the micrometer range (typically 1-100 micrometers), such as integrated circuits or MEMS. The process usually involves replication and parallel fabrication of hundreds or millions of identical structures using various thin film deposition techniques and carried out in environmentally-controlled clean rooms.Nanostructures: Materials which have structured components with at least one dimension in the range of 1 to 100 nanometers. These include NANOCOMPOSITES; NANOPARTICLES; NANOTUBES; and NANOWIRES.Equipment Design: Methods of creating machines and devices.Microfluidics: The study of fluid channels and chambers of tiny dimensions of tens to hundreds of micrometers and volumes of nanoliters or picoliters. This is of interest in biological MICROCIRCULATION and used in MICROCHEMISTRY and INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES.Nanopores: Small holes of nanometer dimensions in a membrane, that can be used as single molecule detectors. The pores can be biological or synthetic.Graphite: An allotropic form of carbon that is used in pencils, as a lubricant, and in matches and explosives. It is obtained by mining and its dust can cause lung irritation.Optical Phenomena: LIGHT, it's processes and properties, and the characteristics of materials interacting with it.Electrochemistry: The study of chemical changes resulting from electrical action and electrical activity resulting from chemical changes.Microfluidic Analytical Techniques: Methods utilizing the principles of MICROFLUIDICS for sample handling, reagent mixing, and separation and detection of specific components in fluids.Electroplating: Coating with a metal or alloy by electrolysis.Quantum Dots: Nanometer sized fragments of semiconductor crystalline material which emit PHOTONS. The wavelength is based on the quantum confinement size of the dot. They can be embedded in MICROBEADS for high throughput ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY TECHNIQUES.Optical Devices: Products or parts of products used to detect, manipulate, or analyze light, such as LENSES, refractors, mirrors, filters, prisms, and OPTICAL FIBERS.PrintingNanotubes: Nanometer-sized tubes composed of various substances including carbon (CARBON NANOTUBES), boron nitride, or nickel vanadate.Equipment Failure Analysis: The evaluation of incidents involving the loss of function of a device. These evaluations are used for a variety of purposes such as to determine the failure rates, the causes of failures, costs of failures, and the reliability and maintainability of devices.Limit of Detection: Concentration or quantity that is derived from the smallest measure that can be detected with reasonable certainty for a given analytical procedure.Electrodes: Electric conductors through which electric currents enter or leave a medium, whether it be an electrolytic solution, solid, molten mass, gas, or vacuum.Surface Properties: Characteristics or attributes of the outer boundaries of objects, including molecules.Glucose Oxidase: An enzyme of the oxidoreductase class that catalyzes the conversion of beta-D-glucose and oxygen to D-glucono-1,5-lactone and peroxide. It is a flavoprotein, highly specific for beta-D-glucose. The enzyme is produced by Penicillium notatum and other fungi and has antibacterial activity in the presence of glucose and oxygen. It is used to estimate glucose concentration in blood or urine samples through the formation of colored dyes by the hydrogen peroxide produced in the reaction. (From Enzyme Nomenclature, 1992) EC 18.104.22.168.Aptamers, Nucleotide: Nucleotide sequences, generated by iterative rounds of SELEX APTAMER TECHNIQUE, that bind to a target molecule specifically and with high affinity.Quartz Crystal Microbalance Techniques: The use of a quartz crystal microbalance for measuring weights and forces in the micro- to nanogram range. It is used to study the chemical and mechanical properties of thin layers, such as polymer coatings and lipid membranes; and interactions between molecues.Interferometry: Measurement of distances or movements by means of the phenomena caused by the interference of two rays of light (optical interferometry) or of sound (acoustic interferometry).Enzymes, Immobilized: Enzymes which are immobilized on or in a variety of water-soluble or water-insoluble matrices with little or no loss of their catalytic activity. Since they can be reused continuously, immobilized enzymes have found wide application in the industrial, medical and research fields.Ion-Selective Electrodes: Electrodes which can be used to measure the concentration of particular ions in cells, tissues, or solutions.Electronics: The study, control, and application of the conduction of ELECTRICITY through gases or vacuum, or through semiconducting or conducting materials. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)Avidin: A specific protein in egg albumin that interacts with BIOTIN to render it unavailable to mammals, thereby producing biotin deficiency.Polymers: Compounds formed by the joining of smaller, usually repeating, units linked by covalent bonds. These compounds often form large macromolecules (e.g., BIOPOLYMERS; PLASTICS).Electricity: The physical effects involving the presence of electric charges at rest and in motion.Nanoparticles: Nanometer-sized particles that are nanoscale in three dimensions. They include nanocrystaline materials; NANOCAPSULES; METAL NANOPARTICLES; DENDRIMERS, and QUANTUM DOTS. The uses of nanoparticles include DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS and cancer targeting and imaging.Electric Power Supplies: Devices that control the supply of electric current for running electrical equipment.Biotin: A water-soluble, enzyme co-factor present in minute amounts in every living cell. It occurs mainly bound to proteins or polypeptides and is abundant in liver, kidney, pancreas, yeast, and milk.Porosity: Condition of having pores or open spaces. This often refers to bones, bone implants, or bone cements, but can refer to the porous state of any solid substance.Spectrum Analysis, Raman: Analysis of the intensity of Raman scattering of monochromatic light as a function of frequency of the scattered light.Nanotubes, Carbon: Nanometer-sized tubes composed mainly of CARBON. Such nanotubes are used as probes for high-resolution structural and chemical imaging of biomolecules with ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY.Photons: Discrete concentrations of energy, apparently massless elementary particles, that move at the speed of light. They are the unit or quantum of electromagnetic radiation. Photons are emitted when electrons move from one energy state to another. (From Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 11th ed)Silicon Dioxide: Transparent, tasteless crystals found in nature as agate, amethyst, chalcedony, cristobalite, flint, sand, QUARTZ, and tridymite. The compound is insoluble in water or acids except hydrofluoric acid.Oxides: Binary compounds of oxygen containing the anion O(2-). The anion combines with metals to form alkaline oxides and non-metals to form acidic oxides.Silver: Silver. An element with the atomic symbol Ag, atomic number 47, and atomic weight 107.87. It is a soft metal that is used medically in surgical instruments, dental prostheses, and alloys. Long-continued use of silver salts can lead to a form of poisoning known as ARGYRIA.Immunoassay: A technique using antibodies for identifying or quantifying a substance. Usually the substance being studied serves as antigen both in antibody production and in measurement of antibody by the test substance.Magnetics: The study of MAGNETIC PHENOMENA.Membranes, Artificial: Artificially produced membranes, such as semipermeable membranes used in artificial kidney dialysis (RENAL DIALYSIS), monomolecular and bimolecular membranes used as models to simulate biological CELL MEMBRANES. These membranes are also used in the process of GUIDED TISSUE REGENERATION.Adsorption: The adhesion of gases, liquids, or dissolved solids onto a surface. It includes adsorptive phenomena of bacteria and viruses onto surfaces as well. ABSORPTION into the substance may follow but not necessarily.Antibodies: Immunoglobulin molecules having a specific amino acid sequence by virtue of which they interact only with the ANTIGEN (or a very similar shape) that induced their synthesis in cells of the lymphoid series (especially PLASMA CELLS).Microscopy, Electron, Scanning: Microscopy in which the object is examined directly by an electron beam scanning the specimen point-by-point. The image is constructed by detecting the products of specimen interactions that are projected above the plane of the sample, such as backscattered electrons. Although SCANNING TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY also scans the specimen point by point with the electron beam, the image is constructed by detecting the electrons, or their interaction products that are transmitted through the sample plane, so that is a form of TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY.