Reconfigurable Multichannel Glass Nanopores Speed up DNA and MicroRNA Detection.

Abstract

Nanopore sensing is a promising platform for single-molecule analysis. However, the intrinsically low capture rate of individual nanopores constrains its utility, resulting in prolonged time-to-result for low-concentration biomarkers. We address this challenge by implementing reconfigurable parallel measurements across glass nanopore arrays using a single high-bandwidth amplifier. Our results demonstrate that the capture rate scales linearly with the nanopore count, accelerating subpicomolar DNA detection and enabling sufficient events for statistical analysis within a 15 min measurement. We also elucidate the correlation between noise level and nanopore count. To validate the platform's diagnostic potential, we employed DNA carriers for low-abundance miRNA analysis, achieving detection of 2 pM targets in a 10 μL sample and shortening the detection time to ∼45 min, compared with the ∼12 h required for single glass nanopore measurements at ∼50 pM. These results highlight the potential of glass nanopore arrays as a promising platform for next-generation early disease diagnostics.