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Abstract
We have developed an optofluidic biosensor to study microscale particles and different species of microalgae. The system is comprised of a microchannel with a set of chevron-shaped grooves. The chevrons allows for hydrodynamic focusing of the core stream in the center using a sheath fluid. The device is equipped with a new generation of highly sensitive photodetectors, multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC), with high gain values and an extremely small footprint. Two different sizes of high intensity fluorescent microspheres and three different species of algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strain 21 gr, Chlamydomonas suppressor, and Chlorella sorokiniana) were studied. The forward scattering emissions generated by samples passing through the interrogation region were carried through a multimode fiber, located in 135 degree with respect to the excitation fiber, and detected by a MPPC. The signal outputs obtained from each sample were collected using a data acquisition system and utilized for further statistical analysis. Larger particles or cells demonstrated larger peak height and width, and consequently larger peak area. The average signal output (integral of the peak) for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strain 21 gr, Chlamydomonas suppressor, and Chlorella sorokiniana falls between the values found for the 3.2 and 10.2 μm beads. Different types of algae were also successfully characterized.
Highlights
Microfluidic technology is being developed with the purpose of quantifying properties of system particles in environmental studies or clinical diagnostics [1,2,3,4,5]
We report the design and development of an optofluidic cytometer equipped with multi-pixel photon counters (MPPCs)—a new generation of photodetectors—as part of the system optical train
Two different sizes of microspheres and three types of microalgae were characterized by investigating their forward light scatter
Summary
Microfluidic technology is being developed with the purpose of quantifying properties of system particles in environmental studies or clinical diagnostics [1,2,3,4,5]. Flow cytometry has attracted considerable research attention in recent years due to its high-throughput capability in performing both quantitative and qualitative analyses of cells or particles. A single-file stream of cells is created. Light scatter and fluorescence optical signals are collected once the focused cell or particle passes through a laser beam. A single-layer flow cytometer capable of multi-parametric particle analysis has been reported [6]. The design facilitates a three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing by ‘microfluidic drifting’ and on-chip detection simultaneously. Surface patterns such as chevron grooves are used to hydrodynamically focus the core stream and interrogate each sample at four different wavelengths [7,8,9]
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