In this paper, we present the theoretical investigation of photonic sensors based on Vernier effect with two cascade-coupled ring resonators in silicon on insulator technology. The photonic chip utilizes rib and slot waveguides designed to operate at 3.8 mu m mid infrared wavelength, where a number of harmful gases, chemical and biochemical analytes are spectroscopically accessible. A rigorous algorithmic procedure has been implemented for the design of such devices and novel technological solutions have been proposed according to very recent experimental results. The rib-slot sensor architecture can exhibit wavelength sensitivities as high as 20.6 mu m/RIU and limits of detection for homogeneous sensing as low as 3.675 x 10(-4) RIU.