DEVELOPMENT OF MICROARRAYS BASED ON PATTERNED POLYMER SURFACES FOR MiNIATURIZED AND MULTiPLEXED DIAGNOSTIC APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Microfluidic droplet arrays are an emerging class of lab-on-chip systems which are being explored for multitudes of applications such as high throughput screening of cells, chemical synthesis, colorimetric detection of various substituents, etc. The main advantage of microfluidic droplet arrays is that, when wetted with liquid, it offers separate reactor wells of liquid on a very small platform which can then be readily used to perform different reactions simultaneously. Biological fluids contain various analytes like proteins, glucose, urea, bilirubin, urobilinogen, adrenaline, etc whose levels are rigorously controlled by the body for its normal functioning. But the abnormal levels of such analytes can prove to be an early indication of presence of many diseases and determination of these concentrations may very well lead to a diagnosis of a particular disease. The determination of concentrations of such analytes can be done using bio-assays which react with a particular analyte and produce a distinguish colour. The intensity of the colour formed is directly proportional to the concentration of the analyte and can be easily determined spectrophotometrically. In this project, we wanted to explore the possibility to combine the idea of employing microfluidic droplet arrays for performing bio-assays for various analytes of biological fluids simultaneously. -4. For this purpose, we prepared and studied a system containing droplets microarrays of various analytes on Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate (HEMA) - Ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) polymer surface and their respective bioassays printed on fluorinated glass slides in the form of spots. These two were stamped together to realise the transfer of bioassays from fluorinated glass slide into the individual droplet for further reaction giving the desired colour change.