Design of Flow Systems for Improved Networking and Reduced Noise in Biomolecular Signal Processing in Biocomputing and Biosensing Applications

Sensors (Basel). 2016 Jul 5;16(7):1042. doi: 10.3390/s16071042.

Abstract

We consider flow systems that have been utilized for small-scale biomolecular computing and digital signal processing in binary-operating biosensors. Signal measurement is optimized by designing a flow-reversal cuvette and analyzing the experimental data to theoretically extract the pulse shape, as well as reveal the level of noise it possesses. Noise reduction is then carried out numerically. We conclude that this can be accomplished physically via the addition of properly designed well-mixing flow-reversal cell(s) as an integral part of the flow system. This approach should enable improved networking capabilities and potentially not only digital but analog signal-processing in such systems. Possible applications in complex biocomputing networks and various sense-and-act systems are discussed.

Keywords: biomolecular computing; biosensor; flow system; noise reduction; signal processing.