Lab-on-PCB With Pre-Stored Reagents at Low Temperature and Automatic Microfluidic Handling

Abstract

In this paper an automatic lab-on-PCB system with pre-stored reagents is described. The releasing method of the reagents is biocompatible, easy to perform, and free of debris. In addition, the fabrication process is scalable to mass production. The PCB-chip consists of a PMMA microfluidic circuit, and a commercial Printed Circuit Board (PCB) with integrated sensors and actuators. The quantity of pre-stored reagent moved toward the microfluidic circuit is programmable. The PCB-chip requires a reader for controlling the whole process. The experimental results show the correct functioning of the device storing the reagent, releasing the correct amount of liquids and mixing the liquids. The detection by absorbance provide a linearity of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R^{2} = 0.9907$ </tex-math></inline-formula> with an error of 4,9%. A lab-on-PCB with pre-stored reagents, automatic microfluidic handling, and integrated sensors and actuators for biomedical applications is described. The PCB-chip could be modified in order to perform different biochemical analysis. The characteristics of the proposed lab-on-PCB system make it very attractive from the market point of view, mainly thank to its portability due to the capability of pre-storing reagents, together with its low cost and its scalability to mass production. [2022-0123]