Thursday, November 09, 2006

US Patent 7132275 - Multisegmented Magnetic Nanowires

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7132275.pdf

Functionalized nanowires are currently being employed for biosensing applications. However, often more than one type of biomolecule is desired to be sensed. This patent from Johns Hopkins proposes using a nanowire formed of different segments which are functionalized independently to bond with different biomolecules so as to form a more versatile detection mechanism. Claim 1 reads:

1. A magnetic nanowire comprising: a plurality of segments, wherein said segments are formed from metal or metal alloys, and wherein at least one of said plurality of segments is magnetic; and functional groups associated with at least one of said segments or ligands associated with at least one of said segments.