CMOS-based Sensors as New Standard for Micro-NMR: Magnetic Resonance at the Embryo Scale

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has for decades been established as an essential technique, providing lifesaving medical applications and pushing the boundaries of scientific research. It is routinely used to investigate chemical properties of samples ranging from proteins to whole humans. However, biological entities at the microscopic scale of an individual embryo (similar to 1 nl) have long remained out of reach due to technical limitations of conventional instrumentation. In this article we review and compare the different technical approaches used to bring the capabilities of NMR to such an important scale. While each has pushed the boundary in terms of sensitivity, demonstrating the potential for novel applications, all have fallen short of providing a user-friendly solution and thus limiting widespread adoption. In contrast, CMOS-based sensors stand out by providing not just state-of-art sensitivity but the hardware flexibility to construct devices that are compatible with relevant biological, pharmaceutical, and medical applications.