The basis for the ISFET is the MOSFET. Dutch engineer Piet Bergveld, at the University of Twente studied the MOSFET and realized it could be adapted into a sensor for electrochemical and biological applications. This led to Bergveld's invention of the ISFET in 1970. He described the ISFET as "a special type of MOSFET with a gate at a certain distance". It was the earliest Biosensor FET (BioFET).
ISFET sensors could be implemented in integrated circuits based on CMOS (complementary MOS) technology. ISFET devices are widely used in biomedical applications, such as the detection of DNA hybridization, biomarker detection from blood, antibody detection, glucose measurement and pH sensing. The ISFET is also the basis for later BioFETs, such as the DNA field-effect transistor (DNAFET), used in genetic technology.