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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

channel flow constriction immunoassays, developing world, PDMS

College

Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Abstract

Biomarkers have a tremendous capacity for use in screening for various diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and bacterial infections. Existing immunoassay methods can detect a broad spectrum of biomarkers. However, they are costly to perform for small numbers of samples and require bulky, expensive instrumentation, making these methods unfit for point-of-care use in the developing world. The focus of my research in the past 10 months has been to help develop a small microfluidic system capable of detecting and quantifying biomarker concentrations with simple, easy-to-read results and that requires little or no technical training before use. Our group has developed and worked to optimize a microfluidic assay platform with promising results. By altering device parameters such as solution viscosity, top layer thickness, and channel depth, we have been able to detect streptavidin concentrations of 1 ng/mL with these devices and are optimistic that continued optimization will yield even lower levels of detection. My primary responsibility during this process has been to fabricate devices for testing.

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