Lab-on-a-chip solutions designed for being operated on standard laboratory instruments

Abstract

In this paper, we propose the development of microfluidic disposables that can be processed with standard laboratory instruments. The use of prevalent processing devices could significantly reduce existing market entry barriers for lab-on-a-chip solutions and support the market uptake of microfluidic products. We demonstrate the concept with the following applications: •microfluidic chips for DNA-purification operated on a standard laboratory centrifuge with 42% yield compared to gold standards (QIAamp, Qiagen GmbH)•microfluidic foil disk for DNA pre-amplification, aliquoting, and real-time PCR operated on a slightly modified Corbett Life Science thermocycler (now Qiagen) with <10 copy sensitivity•microfluidic disposable for isothermal DNA amplification by recombinase polymerase amplification also operated on a Corbett Life Science (now Qiagen) thermocycler with <10 copy sensitivity and a time-to-result of <15 minutes.•fully automated hematocrit measurement in a DVD ROM drive from <10 μL of whole blood.