Miniaturization of analytical systems offers considerable potential for overcoming many of the problems associated with traditional instrumental methods of analysis in biomedical, pharmaceutical and diagnostics applications, namely the handling of small amounts of costly reagents and errors introduced by the operator in preparation of the reagents. The advantages of performing analyses on-chip comprise reduced power requirements, the ability to perform multiple analyses simultaneously in a portable instrument and enhancement of the sensitivity of the measurements as the analyte volumes measured are at nano-scale. The objective of this proposal is to develop a new type of portable microfluidic system for the detection of biological cells and microorganisms in liquid samples such as blood, plasma and/or aqueous or non-aqueous samples. The miniaturized instrument will provide a unique interface between real world samples taken usually in the range of a milliliter(s), and will concentrate them (up to 10,000 fold) into nanoliter volume within the chip microchannels. The microorganisms are detected through on-chip polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of microorganism characteristic DNA. The system is based on two innovations, one for concentrating the microorganisms and the other provides a new simplified detection principle of the DNA amplicons. The principles developed in this project will provide a basis for the development of a new generation of highly sensitive portable instruments capable of detecting microorganisms at concentrations as low as 10 cells per ml.
The proposed microfluidic system will find a large number of applications in future microfluidic instrumentation for integration of basic components for concentration, transport and detection of biologic and inorganic particles of varying size in liquid samples. Potential commercial applications of the developed instrument will include biomedical diagnostics at the point-of-care or bedside testing, in-field environmental monitoring and on production lines in the food, chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
