Integration of a miniature quartz crystal microbalance with a microfluidic chip for amyloid beta-Aβ42 quantitation

A miniature quartz crystal microbalance (mQCM) was integrated with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic device for on-chip determination of amyloid polypeptide-Aβ42. The integration techniques included photolithography and plasma coupling. Aβ42 antibody was immobilized on the mQCM surface using a cross-linker method, and the resonance frequency of mQCM shifted negatively due to antibody-antigen binding. A linear range from 0.1 µM to 3.2 µM was achieved. By using matrix elimination buffer, i.e., matrix phosphate buffer containing 500 µg/mL dextran and 0.5% Tween 20, Aβ42 could be successfully detected in the presence of 75% human serum. Additionally, high temperature treatments at 150 °C provided a valid method to recover mQCM, and PDMS-mQCM microfluidic device could be reused to some extent. Since the detectable Aβ42 concentration could be as low as 0.1 µM, which is close to cut-off value for Alzheimer patients, the PDMS-mQCM device could be applied in early Alzheimer's disease diagnosis.