Issue 6, 2010
From the journal:

Lab on a Chip

A digital microfluidic platform for the automation of quantitative biomolecular assays†

Erik C. Jensen,a   Bharath P. Bhatb  and  Richard A. Mathies*ac  

* Corresponding authors

a Department of Biophysics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

b Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India

c Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
E-mail: ramathies@berkeley.edu
Fax: +1 510 642 3599
Tel: +1 510 642 4192

Abstract

A digital microfluidic platform for the automation of quantitative, multi-step biomolecular assays is developed and optimized. The platform consists of a 2-dimensional array of microvalves that can be programmed to perform reagent routing, mixing, rinsing, serial dilution, and many other operations using nanolitre scale volumes of sample. Discrete transfer of fluid between microvalves is characterized using gravimetric flow analysis and optimized to achieve maximum efficiency. Protocols for on-chip reagent mixing and serial dilution are optimized to achieve linearity over a 1000-fold dilution range. These optimized programs are used to develop a rapid, quantitative assay for hydrogen peroxide, a biomarker of oxidative stress. A sub-micromolar limit of detection is demonstrated with an 8.5 min program runtime, thus establishing this platform as an effective tool for the automation of multi-step bioassays. The programmability of this system enables rapid development of diverse assay protocols on a common chip format.

Graphical abstract: A digital microfluidic platform for the automation of quantitative biomolecular assays

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/B920124F
Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Oct 2009
Accepted
23 Nov 2009
First published
23 Dec 2009

Lab Chip, 2010,10, 685-691

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A digital microfluidic platform for the automation of quantitative biomolecular assays

E. C. Jensen, B. P. Bhat and R. A. Mathies, Lab Chip, 2010, 10, 685 DOI: 10.1039/B920124F

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