Authors:
Ravi Prakash
;
Dipankar Chugh
and
Karan V.I.S. Kaler
Affiliation:
Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada
Keyword(s):
Surface Microfluidics (SMF), Dielectrophoresis (DEP), Biochemical Assay, DNA, Lab-on-a-chip, Droplets.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Biomedical Engineering
;
Biomedical Instrumentation
;
Biomedical Instruments and Devices
;
Emerging Technologies
;
Telecommunications
;
Wireless and Mobile Technologies
;
Wireless Information Networks and Systems
Abstract:
Quantitative analysis of chemical and biochemical molecules is an important requirement in many biochemical assays and can be a challenging task in microfluidic systems due to the smaller sample volumes. In the present study, we report on the detection and quantification of nucleic acid samples contained in nanoliter (nL) and picoliter (pL) droplets, formed by employing a DEP based surface microfluidic system. This surface microfluidic system utilizes non-uniform AC electric fields for dispensing multiple, nanoliter (and picoliter) sized aliquots of samples and reagents, which can furthermore be individually addressed, transported and mixed on-chip in a controlled and parallel fashion. Quantification of dsDNA samples is carried out using a fluorescence based Quant-IT™ PicoGreen® assay, performed on the surface microfluidic chip, while the low-level fluorescence emissions are quantified using a photo-multiplier tube. Our findings show that sample DNA concentrations remain uniform acro
ss the dispensed droplets, although the volume of droplets can be varied as per requirements. Experimental results furthermore prove that our DEP based and electric field assisted on-chip mixing methodology is at par with conventional mixing strategies such as vortexing, stirring etc. and more readily achieved compared to conventional closed channel microfluidic systems.
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