Bioelectrical and metabolic activity recordings by means of organic field effect transistors

The introduction, in the early 70's, of the Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistor (ISFET), completely revolutionized the biosensing field thanks to its versatility and the reliability of its transduction principle. Since then, a lot of different ISFET-based biosensors have been studied and realized for a great number of applications. Among them, a fast growing field of application is the electrophysiological field, in which ISFET-based sensors are employed for the detection of several parameters of electroactive cells, such as their electrical and metabolic activity. Here an innovative system based on a particular kind of Organic Thin Film Transistor (OTFT), called Organic Charge Modulated FET (OCMFET), is presented as a flexible, transparent, and low cost alternative to common ISFETs for the transduction of the electrical and metabolic activity of electrogenic cells. The exploitation of organic electronics in the electrophysiological field may bring several advantages over the existing techniques, thus introducing a novel paradigm in the way in which we interface living systems.