Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Suppression of non-specific adsorption using sheath flow.

Matthew S Munson1, Melissa S Hasenbank, Elain Fu

  • 1University of Washington, Box 352141, Seattle, WA, USA. msmunson@u.washington.edu.

Lab on a Chip
|October 9, 2004
PubMed
Summary

This study presents a microfluidic sheath-flow channel to prevent analyte adsorption. The device enables adsorption-free measurements by confining flow, crucial for sensitive biosensing applications.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Machine Learning Applied to Electrochemical Data Processing for Improved Analyte Quantification in Complex Saliva.

Electroanalysis·2026
Same author

Heat-actuated valve implementation in a point-of-care, paper-based microfluidic device for infectious disease detection.

PloS one·2026
Same author

Progress on Electrochemical Sensing of Pharmaceutical Drugs in Complex Biofluids.

Chemosensors (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same author

A low-cost point-of-care device for the simultaneous detection of two sexually transmitted bacterial pathogens in vaginal swab samples.

The Analyst·2025
Same author

Field‑use device for the electrochemical quantification of carbamazepine levels in a background of human saliva.

Journal of applied electrochemistry·2025
Same author

High-sensitivity detection of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> DNA in tongue swab samples.

Journal of clinical microbiology·2025

Area of Science:

  • Microfluidics
  • Surface Chemistry
  • Biotechnology

Background:

  • Non-specific adsorption of analytes to microchannel walls is a significant challenge in microfluidic devices.
  • This adsorption can interfere with accurate measurements and reduce device performance, particularly in biosensing applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate a microfluidic sheath-flow channel design that effectively prevents non-specific adsorption of analytes.
  • To enable adsorption-free measurements within the core of a microfluidic channel for applications like T-sensor measurements.
  • To investigate the factors influencing adsorption prevention and controlled protein adsorption.

Main Methods:

  • Fabrication of a sheath-flow microfluidic channel using laser-cut Mylar films.
  • Numerical simulations of convective and diffusive mass transport within the channel.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Experimental characterization using epifluorescence microscopy and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) microscopy.

    • Main Results:

    • The developed sheath-flow channel successfully prevented the adsorption of Rhodamine B to the channel walls.
    • The device allows for adsorption-free measurements within the core flow, suitable for sensitive assays.
    • Generalized scaling rules for adsorption prevention were discussed, considering diffusion, sheath thickness, and adsorbate affinity.
    • Controlled adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) to a gold surface was demonstrated using SPR microscopy.

    Conclusions:

    • A microfluidic sheath-flow channel is an effective strategy to mitigate non-specific adsorption in microfluidic systems.
    • This approach significantly enhances the reliability and accuracy of microfluidic-based measurements, especially for biosensing.
    • The study provides insights into scaling parameters for designing effective anti-adsorption microfluidic devices.