AUTHOR=Liu Xu , Fan Qiumeng , Chen Zhijie , Wan Peiyuan , Mao Wei , Yu Hao TITLE=A review and analysis of current-mode biosensing front-end ICs for nanopore-based DNA sequencing JOURNAL=Frontiers in Electronics VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2022 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/electronics/articles/10.3389/felec.2022.1071132 DOI=10.3389/felec.2022.1071132 ISSN=2673-5857 ABSTRACT=Bio-sensors connect the biological world with electronic devices, widely used in biomedical applications. The combination of microelectronic and medical technologies makes biomedical diagnosis more rapid, accurate and efficient. In this article, the current-mode bio-sensing front-end integrated circuits (ICs) for nanopore-based DNA sequencing are reviewed and analyzed, aiming to present their operation theories, advantages, limitations and performances including gain, bandwidth, noise, and power consumption. Because biological information and external interference are contained in extremely weak sensing current, usually at pA or nA level, it is challenging to accurately detect and restore the desired signals. Based on the requirements of DNA sequencing, this paper shows three circuit topologies of bio-sensing frond-end, including discrete-time, continuous-time, and current-to-frequency conversion types. This paper also makes an introduction to the current-mode sensor array for DNA sequencing. To better review and evaluate the research of the state-of-art, the most relevant published works are summarized and compared. The review and analysis would help the researchers be familiar with the requirements, constraints, and methods for current-mode bio-sensing front-end IC designs for nanopore-based DNA sequencing.