Oral fluids, such as saliva, have been recently considered as an important research object for disease diagnostics. Compared with traditional diagnostics fluids such as blood, obtaining oral fluids is convenient, and cost effective. We used conjugated agarose beads as sensor vehicles for detection antibodies. A calibration of the fluorescence intensity was made to determine its dependency on the antigen concentration. The system proved to be ultra-sensitive and generate highly stable results from real clinical tests. Unlike the most prevalent microfluidic devices, our fluidic system is able to handle much larger flow rate, while keeping the key components such as internal valves and peristaltic pumps functional. Our 3D microfluidic system had two parts: on top is microfluidic channels, as well as valves and pumps to deliver the involved fluids; and on bottom is an array of silicon or plastic square-pyramid wells as holders for the conjugated agarose beads. A number of edged micro-fabrication techniques were employed, such as silicon wet etching, grey scale UV mask, soft lithography and replica molding, rapid prototyping with plot craft cutter and hot embossing.

Ultra-sensitive microfluidic system for analyzing oral fluids

241st National Meeting (2011)

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