Design and Manufacturing of a Disposable, Cyclo-Olefin Copolymer, Microfluidic Device for a Biosensor ^†

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Microfluidic devices offer miniaturized platforms for biological sample processing.
• Cyclo-Olefin Copolymer (COC) is a suitable material for microfluidics due to its properties like low auto-fluorescence and biocompatibility.
• Integrating multiple functions onto a single microfluidic chip can reduce costs and improve efficiency in biosensing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and manufacture a microfluidic biosensor for bacterial RNA retrieval and detection.
• To integrate on-chip heating and temperature sensing capabilities into the microfluidic device.
• To demonstrate the potential of thermoplastic materials in developing multi-functional biosensor systems.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a microfluidic device using Cyclo-Olefin Copolymer (COC) via hot-embossing.
• Implementation of an on-chip micro-heater for bacteria heat-lysis and RNA retrieval.
• Integration of carbon resistive temperature sensors for monitoring the heating process.
• Hybridization of RNA with capture probes and detection using fluorescence tags.

Main Results:

• Successful characterization of the on-chip micro-heater's functionality under various parameters.
• Demonstration of effective RNA retrieval and detection using the integrated microfluidic system.
• Validation of the multi-functional capabilities including heating, temperature sensing, and chemical reactions on-chip.
• Confirmation that the thermoplastic device enables low-cost, disposable, and multi-functional biosensing.

Conclusions:

• The developed microfluidic biosensor effectively retrieves and detects bacterial RNA.
• The integration of thermoplastic materials and on-chip functionalities leads to a cost-effective and versatile biosensing platform.
• This work highlights the potential of fully thermoplastic microfluidic devices in advanced biosensor systems.