Centrifugal Microfluidic Platform Research Articles

Centrifugo-Pneumatic Reciprocating Flowing Coupled with a Spatial Confinement Strategy for an Ultrafast Multiplexed Immunoassay.

Immunoassays serve as powerful diagnostic tools for early disease screening, process monitoring, and precision treatment. However, the current methods are limited by high costs, prolonged processing times (>2 h), and operational complexities that hinder their widespread application in point-of-care testing. Here, we propose a novel centrifugo-pneumatic reciprocating flowing coupled with spatial confinement strategy, termed PRCM, for ultrafast multiplexed immunoassay of pathogens on a centrifugal microfluidic platform. Each chip consists of four replicated units; each unit allows simultaneous detection of three targets, thereby facilitating high-throughput parallel analysis of multiple targets. The PRCM platform enables sequential execution of critical steps such as solution mixing, reaction, and drainage by coordinating inherent parameters, including motor rotation speed, rotation direction, and acceleration/deceleration. By integrating centrifugal-mediated pneumatic reciprocating flow with spatial confinement strategies, we significantly reduce the duration of immune binding from 30 to 5 min, enabling completion of the entire testing process within 20 min. As proof of concept, we conducted a simultaneous comparative test on- and off-the-microfluidics using 12 negative and positive clinical samples. The outcomes yielded 100% accuracy in detecting the presence or absence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, thus highlighting the potential of our PRCM system for multiplexed point-of-care immunoassays.

An Efficient 3D-Printed Gravity Mixer for Lab-on-a-CD Applications.

We introduced a new, highly efficient, and uncomplicated mixing device for centrifugal microfluidic platforms, called the gravity mixer. The gravity mixer featured a slope channel that can precisely and sequentially control micro-volume liquids using centrifugal, capillary, and gravitational forces to achieve the desired mixing effect. By adjusting the angular velocity, micro-volumes of liquids in the slope channel of the gravity mixer could be precisely controlled across a wide range. We evaluated the change in mixing efficiency by varying the slope geometry, including the slope angle and the number of mixing cycles. Our study of gravity mixers with different slope angles revealed that the 80° angle gravity mixer achieved the best mixing efficiency, with a standard deviation of 2.39. Additionally, the mixing process in the gravity mixer is highly repeatable, achieving the desired mixing efficiency after only three cycles of operation. Our gravity mixer design and implementation can facilitate the development of more complex 3D-printed lab-on-chip devices.

Automated centrifugal microfluidic system for the preparation of adaptor-ligated sequencing libraries.

The intensive workload associated with the preparation of high-quality DNA libraries remains a key obstacle toward widespread deployment of sequencing technologies in remote and resource-limited areas. We describe the development of single-use microfluidic devices driven by an advanced pneumatic centrifugal microfluidic platform, the PowerBlade, to automate the preparation of Illumina-compatible libraries based on adaptor ligation methodology. The developed on-chip workflow includes enzymatic DNA fragmentation coupled to end-repair, adaptor ligation, first DNA cleanup, PCR amplification, and second DNA cleanup. This complex workflow was successfully integrated into simple thermoplastic microfluidic devices that are amenable to mass production with injection molding. The system was validated by preparing, on chip, libraries from a mixture of genomic DNA extracted from three common foodborne pathogens (Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium) and comparing them with libraries made via a manual procedure. The two types of libraries were found to exhibit similar quality control metrics (including genome coverage, assembly, and relative abundances) and led to nearly uniform coverage independent of GC content. This microfluidic technology offers a time-saving and cost-effective alternative to manual procedures and robotic-based automation, making it suitable for deployment in remote environments where technical expertise and resources might be scarce. Specifically, it facilitates field practices that involve mid- to low-throughput sequencing, such as tasks related to foodborne pathogen detection, characterization, and microbial profiling.

An Automated Centrifugal Microfluidic Platform for Efficient Multistep Blood Sample Preparation and Clean-Up towards Small Ion-Molecule Analysis.

Sample preparation for mass spectroscopy typically involves several liquid and solid phase clean-ups, extractions, and other unit operations, which are labour-intensive and error-prone. We demonstrate a centrifugal microfluidic platform that automates the whole blood sample's preparation and clean-up by combining traditional liquid-phase and multiple solid-phase extractions for applications in mass spectroscopy (MS)-based small molecule detection. Liquid phase extraction was performed using methanol to precipitate proteins in plasma separated from a blood sample under centrifugal force. The preloaded solid phase composed of C18 beads then removed lipids with a combination of silica particles, which further cleaned up any remaining proteins. We further integrated the application of this sample prep disc with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) MS by using glancing angle deposition films, which further cleaned up the processed sample by segregating the electrolyte background from the sample salts. Additionally, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) MS was employed for detecting targeted free amino acids. Therefore, several representative ionic metabolites, including several amino acids and organic acids from blood samples, were analysed by both MALDI-MS and HILIC-MS to demonstrate the performance of this sample preparation disc. The fully automated blood sample preparation procedure only took 35 mins, with a throughput of three parallel units.

Controlled-diffusion centrifugal microfluidic for rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing

The abuse of antibiotics has become a global public safety issue, leading to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The development of antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is crucial in reducing the growth of AMR. However, traditional AST methods are time-consuming (e.g., 24–72 h), labor-intensive, and costly. Here, we propose a controlled-diffusion centrifugal microfluidic platform (CCM) for rapid AST to obtain highly precise minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values. Antibiotic concentration gradients are generated by controlled moving and diffusing of antibiotic and buffer solution along the main microchannel within 3 min. The solution and bacterial suspension are then injected into the outermost reaction chamber by simple centrifugation. The CCM successfully determined the MIC for three commonly used antibiotics in clinical settings within 4–9 h. To further enhance practicality, reduce costs, and meet point-of-care testing demands, we have developed an integrated mobile detection platform for automated MIC value acquisition. The proposed CCM is a simple, low-cost, and portable method for rapid AST with broad clinical and in vitro applications.

An experimental study of centrifugal microfluidic platforms for magnetic-inertial separation of circulating tumor cells using contraction-expansion and zigzag arrays

Cancer diagnosis has recently been at the forefront of recent medical research, with ongoing efforts to develop devices and technologies for detecting cancer in patients. One promising approach for cancer diagnosis is the detection of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in blood samples. Separating these rare cells from the diverse background of blood cells and analyzing them can provide valuable insights into the disease's stage and lethality. Here we present the design and fabrication of a centrifugal microfluidic platform on a polymeric disk that utilizes centrifugal forces for cell isolation. The separation units exploit both active and passive methods. In other words, in addition to introducing novel geometry for channels, an external magnetic field is also employed to separate the target cells from the background cells. In order for the external field to function, the CTCs must first be labeled with antibody-conjugated nanoparticles; the separation process should be then performed. Before the experimental tests, a numerical study was done to determine the optimum parameters; the angular velocity and magnetization investigations showed that 2000 rpm and 868,000 (kA/m) are the optimum conditions for the designed device to reach the efficiency of 100% for both White Blood Cells (WBCs) and CTCs. These results indicate that the passive region of the channels primarily contributes to the focusing of the target cells, and showed that the focusing effect is more pronounced in the expansion-contraction geometry compared to the zigzag geometry. Additionally, the results proved that curved channel geometries performed better than straight ones in terms of separation efficiency. However, if the separation relies solely on channel geometry, the majority of cells would be directed towards the non-target chamber, leading to suboptimal results. This is due to the direction of the forces acting on the cells. However, including an external magnetic field improves the direction of the net force and enhances the separation efficiency. Finally, the numerical and experimental results of the study were compared, and the curved expansion-contraction channel is introduced as the best geometry having 100% and ∼92% CTC separation efficiency, respectively.

A centrifugal microfluidic platform for rapid detection of pathogens based on chitosan nucleic acid extraction and RAA-T7-CRISPR/Cas13a nucleic acid detection

This study reported a bacterial detection platform using chitosan electrostatic adsorption for nucleic acid purification, RAA-T7-CRISPR/Cas13a system for nucleic acid quantification and centrifugal microfluidic platform for full-automatic operation. First, the nucleic acids in the lysed bacterial sample were captured by chitosan modified in the microfluidic PDMS channel through electrostatic adsorption, followed by washing with sodium acetate buffer solution. Then, these captured nucleic acid templates were eluted using Tris-HCl buffer solution through restoring the electrical neutrality of chitosan. Finally, the eluted nucleic acid templates were transferred into the RAA-T7-CRISPR/Cas13a system and isothermally amplified at 37 °C, followed by real-time detection of fluorescent products. A centrifugal microfluidic chip was elaborately designed with a chitosan modified channel, eight functional chambers and three siphon valves to achieve sequential capture, washing, elution, amplification and detection of nucleic acids. This platform has the capacity of automatically detecting Salmonella within 1 h. The detection limit of this platform was 10 CFU/mL in chicken supernatant under the use of optimal conditions. The average recovery and standard deviation of this platform are 106.9% and 6.4%, respectively.

Controlling the advancement of the liquid front of the nitrocellulose membrane assay under the influence of the centrifugal force on the Lab-on-a-Disc platform

Lateral flow immunoassays (LFIs) are ubiquitous point-of-care platforms for chemical and biological tests. They are widely used due to their portability, low cost, fast time of outcome, and absence of the need for presence of highly trained personnel to conduct these tests. One of the ways to enhance the sensitivity of LFIs is by slowing down the flow rate of the analyte through the active sensing area of the test strips (e.g., test line). Some recent developments towards the goal of the improvement of sensitivity of LFIs include placement of the lateral flow assays on the centrifugal microfluidic platforms (so-called Lab-on-discs) where the flow of the analyte through the lateral flow test strip could be sped up or impeded by the centrifugal force applied to the fluid passing through the lateral flow membrane. The finite element analysis (FEA) simulation is performed using ANSYS Fluent software platform and validated by the lateral flow membranes of several pore sizes, from 7 µm to 15 µm, were incorporated onto micromachined discs with integrated microfluidic networks with an accuracy of simulation to be within 15% of experimental values. The present work reports the dependence of the speed of advancement of the liquid meniscus of LFI placed on the Lab-on-a-Disc as a function of the porosity (volumetric fraction of the pores in nitrocellulose or NC membrane), pore sizes, and angular velocity of the spinning disc.

Hand-Powered Point-of-Care: Centrifugal Microfluidic Platform for Urine Routine Examination (μCUREX).

Urinalysis is one of the simplest and most common medical tests in modern cities. With the assistance of professional technicians and equipment, people in metropolitan areas can effortlessly acquire information about their physiological conditions from traditional clinical laboratories. However, the threshold, including precise benchtop equipment and well-trained personnel, still remains a considerable dilemma for residents in healthcare-poor areas. Hence, it is a crucial and urgent topic to develop a smart and affordable widget to address this challenge. To improve the healthcare rights of residents, we proposed a disposable centrifugal microfluidic urine routine examination platform (named μCUREX) actuated with a modified hand-powered fan. Two parts of urinalysis (sediment test and chemical strip test) were integrated into the μCUREX disc. The influence on sedimentation by variant hand-powered manipulation was simulated using COMSOL. As a result, more than 70% of the sediment can be collected. Moreover, the color change of chemical strip papers (indicators for glucose, pH, protein, and occult blood) was recorded with a 3D-printed studio and analyzed after reaction with chemical-spiked and pH-adjusted artificial and human urine specimens. The whole process can be completed within 10 min, with only 200 μL of urine needed. In conclusion, we successfully constructed an ultra-low-cost point-of-care platform for urinalysis in extremely resource-poor settings. The handy size, high affordability, and user-friendliness of the μCUREX disc provide strong potential and feasibility in solving problems in resource-poor settings. Furthermore, we highly expect the μCUREX platform to improve the level of healthcare in resource-limited areas.

Microfluidics for COVID-19: From Current Work to Future Perspective

Spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly impacted the public health and economic sectors. It is urgently necessary to develop rapid, convenient, and cost-effective point-of-care testing (POCT) technologies for the early diagnosis and control of the plague's transmission. Developing POCT methods and related devices is critical for achieving point-of-care diagnosis. With the advantages of miniaturization, high throughput, small sample requirements, and low actual consumption, microfluidics is an essential technology for the development of POCT devices. In this review, according to the different driving forces of the fluid, we introduce the common POCT devices based on microfluidic technology on the market, including paper-based microfluidic, centrifugal microfluidic, optical fluid, and digital microfluidic platforms. Furthermore, various microfluidic-based assays for diagnosing COVID-19 are summarized, including immunoassays, such as ELISA, and molecular assays, such as PCR. Finally, the challenges of and future perspectives on microfluidic device design and development are presented. The ultimate goals of this paper are to provide new insights and directions for the development of microfluidic diagnostics while expecting to contribute to the control of COVID-19.

A portable and low-cost centrifugal microfluidic platform for multiplexed colorimetric detection of protein biomarkers

Cytokines play a very important role in our immune system by acting as mediators to put up a coordinated defense against foreign elements in our body. Elevated levels of cytokines in the body can signal to an ongoing response of the immune system to some abnormality. Thus, the quantification of a panel of cytokines can provide valuable information regarding the diagnosis of specific diseases and state of overall health of an individual. Conventional Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) is the gold-standard for quantification of cytokines, however the need for trained personnel and expensive equipment limits its application to centralized laboratories only. In this context, there is a lack of simple, low-cost and portable devices which can allow for quantification of panels of cytokines at point-of-care and/or resource limited settings.Here, we report the development of a versatile, low-cost and portable bead-based centrifugal microfluidic platform allowing for multiplexed detection of cytokines with minimal hands-on time and an integrated colorimetric signal readout without the need for any external equipment. As a model, multiplexed colorimetric quantification of three target cytokines i.e., Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and Interleukin-2 (IL-2) was achieved in less than 30 min with limits of detection in ng/mL range. The developed platform was further evaluated using spiked-in plasma samples to test for matrix interference. The ease of use, low-cost and portability of the developed platform highlight its potential to serve as a sample-to-answer solution for detection of cytokine panels in resource limited settings.

A low-cost and portable centrifugal microfluidic platform for continuous processing of large sample volumes

Centrifugal microfluidic platforms are becoming increasing popular in many research and diagnostic applications. A major challenge in centrifugal microfluidics is continuous handling of large sample volumes. Keeping the flow rate constant during sample inflow is difficult without a pump. We report an affordable (<USD 40) and portable platform that can handle sample volumes of up to 50 ml without a pump. We use a Mariotte bottle for sample inflow into the disk at a constant flow rate and with a throughput of 1 ml/s. Our pumping mechanism allows basic operations, such as volume metering, flow switching, and mixing. Our platform fulfills the need for portable and affordable instrumentation in developing countries.

Characterization of the flow rate on lab-on-a-disc by a low-powered electrolysis pump for wireless-controlled automation of bioanalytical assays

Pumping mechanism in centrifugal microfluidic platforms enable liquid delivery against the unidirectional centrifugal force. Electrolysis pumping is a method that relies on pneumatic pressure generated by the accumulation of oxygen and hydrogen to propel liquids towards the CD center. Previously, we presented a wirelessly controlled electrolysis (EL) pump with 3D structure to optimize CD space for multiple pump integration. However, the performance of EL pump for low power ranges, and its usage in a real-life application have not been yet demonstrated. In this study, we present the analysis of the EL pump performance over a rotational speed range from 600 to 1500 RPM at low electrical power rates of up to 45 mW. The liquid pumping rate was studied theoretically and compared with the experimental data. The EL pump presented a consistent flow rate of 70–410 nL/s, showing a robust and predictable actuation for small volume delivery. As a first real-life application, we presented the isolation of a specific volume of supernatant liquid after sedimentation of yeast. A theoretical model predicted a period time of 135 s needed to pump 40 µL of supernatant. In our experimental set-up we observed a volume of 43 µL moved in the same amount of time which makes a very good match with the predicted value. As a second real-time application, we presented a centrifugal microfluidic design with multiple wirelessly controlled EL pumps to automate a peptide microarray-based immunoassay for the detection of influenza hemagglutinin antibody.

Microvalves for Applications in Centrifugal Microfluidics.

Centrifugal microfluidic platforms (CDs) have opened new possibilities for inexpensive point-of-care (POC) diagnostics. They are now widely used in applications requiring polymerase chain reaction steps, blood plasma separation, serial dilutions, and many other diagnostic processes. CD microfluidic devices allow a variety of complex processes to transfer onto the small disc platform that previously were carried out by individual expensive laboratory equipment requiring trained personnel. The portability, ease of operation, integration, and robustness of the CD fluidic platforms requires simple, reliable, and scalable designs to control the flow of fluids. Valves play a vital role in opening/closing of microfluidic channels to enable a precise control of the flow of fluids on a centrifugal platform. Valving systems are also critical in isolating chambers from the rest of a fluidic network at required times, in effectively directing the reagents to the target location, in serial dilutions, and in integration of multiple other processes on a single CD. In this paper, we review the various available fluidic valving systems, discuss their working principles, and evaluate their compatibility with CD fluidic platforms. We categorize the presented valving systems into either "active", "passive", or "hybrid"-based on their actuation mechanism that can be mechanical, thermal, hydrophobic/hydrophilic, solubility-based, phase-change, and others. Important topics such as their actuation mechanism, governing physics, variability of performance, necessary disc spin rate for valve actuation, valve response time, and other parameters are discussed. The applicability of some types of valves for specialized functions such as reagent storage, flow control, and other applications is summarized.

(Digital Presentation) An Electrochemical Sensor in a Disc for Real-Time PCR Assisted with Thermal Convective Flow

Nowadays, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has extensively adapted to microfluidic devices for several features such as the low consumption of reagents and sample, portability, high-throughput, and low fabrication costs [1]. The reduction of the amplification time has been a relevant parameter since the invention of the PCR, where rapid microfluidic PCR is especially preferred for the detection of infectious diseases [1,2]. The continuous-flow-based PCR is a type of microfluidic PCR that proposes the mobilization of the PCR mixture through a microchannel with different fixed temperature zones to achieve the required thermal-cycling [3]. This approach has smaller thermal inertia because only the PCR mixture needs to be heated and cooled instead of the entire microfluidic device. The continuous-flow approach allows rapid-thermal cycling with lower power consumption and, therefore, reduces the overall amplification time. The Lab-on-a-disc, or centrifugal microfluidic platform, has adapted the continuous-flow PCR by utilizing the flow generated by thermal convection in a ring-structured microchannel [4]. During spinning, embedded heaters in the bottom of the CD heat specific section of the microchannel (see Figure 1) at a fixed temperature and, subsequently, create a natural convection flow in the PCR mixture and move through the microchannel. The centrifugal-assisted thermal convection (CATC) technique not only enables the recirculation pathway for the continuous-flow PCR but overcomes the unidirectional nature of centrifugation force on the CD. Despite the advantage of rapid PCR on Lab-on-a-Disc, the CATC technique lacks the implementation of a detection method with high sensitivity and resolution, aiming for a fully integrated microfluidic platform. Electrochemical detection can provide fast responses with minimum power consumption for miniaturized devices. This work proposes the integration of an electrochemical sensor to the CATC technique in a circular microchannel for the real-time monitoring of DNA amplification. The electrochemical sensor consists of interdigitated gold electrodes located above the ring microchannel to quantify the amplicon concentration after each cycle mediated by the intercalation of Methylene Blue between the newly-generated DNA (see figure 1A). The characterization of the sensor is performed through voltammetric techniques such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), where the latter is utilized for amplicon quantification. To optimize the CATC technique combined with the electrochemical sensor, a COMSOL simulation is performed to improve the amplification ratio and amplification time in the CD by analyzing the microchannel geometry and flow rate (see figure 1B). Both the thermal control for the thermal-assisted microchannel and the electrochemical sensor are powered and controlled via the “electrified Lab-on-a-Disc” (eLoaD) board [5] (see figure 1C).[1] Y. Zhang, P. Ozdemir, Anal. Chim. Acta 638 (2009) 115–125.[2] X. Dong, L. Liu, Y. Tu, J. Zhang, G. Miao, L. Zhang, S. Ge, N. Xia, D. Yu, X. Qiu, TrAC - Trends Anal. Chem. 143 (2021) 116377.[3] M.B. Kulkarni, S. Goel, Eng. Res. Express 2 (2020).[4] M. Saito, K. Takahashi, Y. Kiriyama, W.V. Espulgar, H. Aso, T. Sekiya, Y. Tanaka, T. Sawazumi, S. Furui, E. Tamiya, Anal. Chem. 89 (2017) 12797–12804.[5] S.M. Torres Delgado, J.G. Korvink, D. Mager, Biosens. Bioelectron. 117 (2018) 464–473. Figure 1

Centrifugal microfluidic platform with digital image analysis for parallel red cell antigen typing

This study presents a portable multichannel microfluidic device for parallel and digital analysis of red cell antigen typing. A zigzag-shaped precise metering channel was designed for the simultaneous aliquoting of samples, which is independent of the volume of the predeposited blood-typing reagents in the reaction chambers. The entire assay protocol can be conducted using a sequential-step spinning protocol, which resembles that of conventional tube tests for blood typing; however, the manual procedure is largely reduced compared to that of conventional systems. After loading the samples, the disc is centrifuged in a defined program with five sequential steps, each of which can be completed in a few seconds. Through step-wise centrifugation, predeposited antibodies react with red blood cells, enabling the parallel identification of multiple red blood cell antigens without cross-contamination in 1 min. This is combined with gentle mixing to rapidly concentrate the agglutinates, making both visual and digital determination of agglutination straightforward. A customized image analysis algorithm for automatically determining the agglutination state was developed to complement this microfluidic system. The acquired image is processed after the test. The blood type is determined using a machine learning algorithm based on a histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) and support vector machines (SVM). This allows digital analysis to mirror the classical laboratory procedure for blood-type determination more accurately. The system was trained using a validated dataset of 150 blood samples, presenting 750 different agglutination patterns. The combination of SVM and HOG achieved 94.10% in the micro-weighted performance evaluation. This integrated microfluidic chip-based platform provides a “sample-in and answer out” demonstration for red blood cell typing, ensuring fast and reliable results because minimum manual steps are involved.

Dual-CRISPR/Cas12a-Assisted RT-RAA for Ultrasensitive SARS-CoV-2 Detection on Automated Centrifugal Microfluidics.

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based nucleic acid detection can be combined with recombinase-aided amplification (RAA) to enable rapid, accurate, and early detection of SARS-CoV-2. Current CRISPR-based approaches to detecting viral nucleic acid typically require immense manual operations to transfer RPA amplicons for CRISPR detection or suffer from compromised sensitivity by mixing the competing RPA amplification and CRISPR detection. Here, we develop dual-CRISPR/Cas12a-assisted RT-RAA assay and a ″sample-to-answer″ centrifugal microfluidic platform that can automatically detect 1 copy/μL of the SARS-CoV-2 within 30 min. This chip separates the amplification (RAA) from detection (CRISPR), such that sensitivity is maximized and the time consumption is decreased by a factor of 3. For the 26 positive and 8 negative clinical SARS-CoV-2 samples, this automated centrifugal microfluidics achieved 100% accuracy compared to the gold-standard RT-PCR technique. This point-of-care test, with the advantages of being one-step, automated, rapid, and sensitive, will have a significant potential for clinical diagnosis and disease prevention.

An addressable electrowetting valve for centrifugal microfluidics

Centrifugal microfluidic platforms aim to integrate and perform complex biological and chemical processes within disc-like substrates and valving through centrifugal forces and the Coriolis effect. Although the integration of active valves within such system can be used to enhance fluid control, the ability to fabricate and integrate addressable valves within centrifugal platforms remains a significant challenge. To address this issue, herein, we present and test an addressable electrowetting centrifugal (EWC) valve. The EWC valve comprises a hydrophobic burst valve, integrated side electrodes and a dielectric layer between the microfluidic channel and electrode structures. The burst valve is made from a hydrophobic material able hold a specified pressure. Specifically, application of an external electric field is used to alter the valve wettability, making the valve more hydrophilic, decreasing the threshold pressure and triggering the opening of the valve. To assess valve performance, we investigate the influence of electric properties and channel geometry on valve response and then demonstrate multiple operations on different fluid samples. Finally, and to highlight the utility of EWC valves, we demonstrate the detection and analysis of CD4 human immune cells.

A novel method for inward fluid displacement in centrifugal microdevices for highly integrated nucleic acid processing with long-term reagent storage

Rotationally-driven lab-on-a-disc (LoaD) microfluidic systems are among the most promising methods for realizing complex nucleic acid (NA) testing at the point-of-need (PoN). However, despite significant advancements in NA amplification methods, very few sample-to-answer centrifugal microfluidic platforms have been realized due, in part, to a lack of on-disc sample preparation. In many instances, NA extraction (NAE) and/or lysis must be performed off-disc using conventional laboratory equipment and methods, thus tethering the assay to centralized facilities. Omission of in-line cellular lysis and NAE can be partially attributed to the nature of centrifugally-driven fluidics. Since flow is directed radially outward relative to the center of rotation (CoR), the number of possible sequential unit operations is limited by the disc radius. To address this, we report a simple, practical, automatable, and easy-to-implement method for inward fluid displacement (IFD) compatible with downstream nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs). This approach leverages carbon dioxide (CO2) gas generated from on-board acid-base neutralization to drive liquid from the disc periphery towards the CoR. Large architectural features or highly corrosive chemicals required in other approaches were replaced with safe-to-handle IFD reagents that maintained their reactivity for at least six months of storage on-disc. Further, spatiotemporal control over neutralization initiation and containment of the resultant pneumatic pressure head was reliably achieved using a single diode for both laser-actuated valve opening and channel sealing, which eliminated the need for manual intervention (e.g., taping over vents) required in other IFD methods. Following initial characterization via dye recovery studies, we demonstrated for the first time that CO2-driven displacement does not inhibit downstream NAATs; NAs isolated direct-from-swab on disc were compatible with both ‘gold standard’ polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). The IFD approach described here stands to significantly ease integration of an increased number of sequential on-board processes, including cellular lysis, nucleic acid extraction, amplification, and detection, to greatly lower barriers towards automatable sample-to-answer LoaDs amenable for use on-site operation by non-technical personnel.

Characterization of Fluidic-Barrier-Based Particle Generation in Centrifugal Microfluidics.

The fluidic barrier in centrifugal microfluidic platforms is a newly introduced concept for making multiple emulsions and microparticles. In this study, we focused on particle generation application to better characterize this method. Because the phenomenon is too fast to be captured experimentally, we employ theoretical models to show how liquid polymeric droplets pass a fluidic barrier before crosslinking. We explain how secondary flows evolve and mix the fluids within the droplets. From an experimental point of view, the effect of different parameters, such as the barrier length, source channel width, and rotational speed, on the particles’ size and aspect ratio are investigated. It is demonstrated that the barrier length does not affect the particle’s ultimate velocity. Unlike conventional air gaps, the barrier length does not significantly affect the aspect ratio of the produced microparticles. Eventually, we broaden this concept to two source fluids and study the importance of source channel geometry, barrier length, and rotational speed in generating two-fluid droplets.