Development of a High-throughput Electrokinetically-controlled Heterogeneous Immunoassay Microfluidic Chip

Abstract

This thesis was on the development of a high-throughput electrokinetically-controlled heterogeneous immunoassay (EK-IA) microfluidic chip for clinical application. Through a series of experimental studies, a high-throughput EK-IA was developed. This EK-IA was capable of automatically screening multiple analytes from up to 10 samples in parallel, in only 26 min. Flow control in an integrated microfluidic network was realized by numerical simulation of the transport processes. This EK-IA was successfully applied to detect E. coli O157:H7 antibody and H. pylori antibody from human sera with satisfactory accuracy. Simultaneous screening of both antibodies from human sera was also achieved, demonstrating the potential of this EK-IA for efficiently detecting multiple pathogenic infections in clinical settings. Preliminary work on the application of EK-IA to detect biomarkers of embryo development in embryo culture media also yielded good results. In addition to the experimental studies, the reaction kinetics of this microfluidic EK-IA has also been investigated, using both numerical simulation and a modified Damköhler number. Targeted towards a more sensitive assay, the influences of several important parameters on the reaction kinetics were studied. This EK-IA holds great promise for automated and high-throughput immunoassay in clinical environments.