Sensors 2013, 13(9), 11336-11349; doi:10.3390/s130911336
Fluidic Automation of Nitrate and Nitrite Bioassays in Whole Blood by Dissolvable-Film Based Centrifugo-Pneumatic Actuation
1
Biomedical Diagnostics Institute, National Centre for Sensor Research, School of Physical Sciences, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland
2
Department of Micro- and Nanotechnology, Technical University of Denmark, Ørsteds Plads 345Ø, DK2800 Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark
3
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, AIIM Facility, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 18 July 2013 / Revised: 7 August 2013 / Accepted: 14 August 2013 / Published: 26 August 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomedical Sensors and Systems)
Abstract
This paper demonstrates the full centrifugal microfluidic integration and automation of all liquid handling steps of a 7-step fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assay (FLISA) for quantifying nitrate and nitrite levels in whole blood within about 15 min. The assay protocol encompasses the extraction of metered plasma, the controlled release of sample and reagents (enzymes, co-factors and fluorescent labels), and incubation and detection steps. Flow control is implemented by a rotationally actuated dissolvable film (DF) valving scheme. In the valves, the burst pressure is primarily determined by the radial position, geometry and volume of the valve chamber and its inlet channel and can thus be individually tuned over an extraordinarily wide range of equivalent spin rates between 1,000 RPM and 5,500 RPM. Furthermore, the vapour barrier properties of the DF valves are investigated in this paper in order to further show the potential for commercially relevant on-board storage of liquid reagents during shelf-life of bioanalytical, ready-to-use discs. View Full-TextKeywords:
dissolvable film; sacrificial valve; reagent storage; centrifugal; microfluidics; automation
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MDPI and ACS Style
Nwankire, C.E.; Chan, D.-S.S.; Gaughran, J.; Burger, R.; Gorkin, R., III; Ducrée, J. Fluidic Automation of Nitrate and Nitrite Bioassays in Whole Blood by Dissolvable-Film Based Centrifugo-Pneumatic Actuation. Sensors 2013, 13, 11336-11349.