Characterization of microparticle separation utilizing electrokinesis within an electrodeless dielectrophoresis chip.

This study demonstrated the feasibility of utilizing electrokinesis in an electrodeless dielectrophoresis chip to separate and concentrate microparticles such as biosamples. Numerical simulations and experimental observations were facilitated to investigate the phenomena of electrokinetics, i.e., electroosmosis, dielectrophoresis, and electrothermosis. Moreover, the proposed operating mode can be used to simultaneously convey microparticles through a microfluidic device by using electroosmotic flow, eliminating the need for an additional micropump. These results not only revealed that the directions of fluids could be controlled with a forward/backward electroosmotic flow but also categorized the optimum separating parameters for various microparticle sizes (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 µm). Separation of microparticles can be achieved by tuning driving frequencies at a specific electric potential (90 Vpp·cm(-1)). Certainly, the device can be designed as a single automated device that carries out multiple functions such as transportation, separation, and detection for the realization of the envisioned Lab-on-a-Chip idea.

Topography-assisted electromagnetic platform for blood-to-PCR in a droplet.

This paper presents an electromagnetically actuated platform for automated sample preparation and detection of nucleic acids. The proposed platform integrates nucleic acid extraction using silica-coated magnetic particles with real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on a single cartridge. Extraction of genomic material was automated by manipulating magnetic particles in droplets using a series of planar coil electromagnets assisted by topographical features, enabling efficient fluidic processing over a variety of buffers and reagents. The functionality of the platform was demonstrated by performing nucleic acid extraction from whole blood, followed by real-time PCR detection of KRAS oncogene. Automated sample processing from whole blood to PCR-ready droplet was performed in 15 min. We took a modular approach of decoupling the modules of magnetic manipulation and optical detection from the device itself, enabling a low-complexity cartridge that operates in tandem with simple external instruments.

Rapid whole-cell sensing chip for low-level arsenite detection.

A novel whole-cell sensing chip system consisted of a micro-concentrator, a set of electrochemical detection electrodes, and a microfluidic channel was developed for rapid detection of arsenite in water. Firstly, the E. coli cells transformed with arsenited-regulated reporter plasmids were incubated with solution contained arsenite. Under this condition, the level of reporter protein, ß-galactosidase, expressed by E. coli cells is dependent on the concentration of arsenite. Using the dielectrophoretic force, the micro-concentrator continuously enriched the E. coli cells into a small area above the embedded detection electrodes. And then the relative expression levels of ß-galactosidase were obtained using the electrochemical method to measure the amount of p-aminophenol (PAP) which converted from the p-aminophenyl-ß-D-galactopyranoside (PAPG) by ß-galactosidase. From the result, it indicates this device can detect as low as 0.1 ppm of arsenite within 30 min. Compared with other traditional detection methods, our new device provides better performance like higher sensitivity, shorter analysis time, and lower cost in detecting the arsenite.