Label-free DNA quantification using isothermal amplification on an exposed core optical fiber microfluidic platform

Isothermal amplification technology has triggered a surge in research due to its compatibility with small and portable equipment, simplicity, and high efficiency, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic where reliable widescale testing is critical to outbreak management. In this paper, a label-free isothermal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) amplification method based on refractive index (RI) quantification is proposed and demonstrated for the first time by combining optical fiber sensing, microfluidics, and isothermal amplification. A highly RI-sensitive Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interference is formed by splicing a short length of an exposed-core fiber between two lengths of a single-mode fiber while the microfluidic liquid channel on the exposed side of the ECF is filled with target DNA and the amplification solution. Real-time quantitative measurement of the target DNA is then realized by monitoring the change in RI of the solution during the isothermal DNA amplification process. The experimental results show that the platform successfully realizes real-time label-free monitoring of isothermal amplification of 0.16 aM DNA samples. This method is a breakthrough for applications in the fields of DNA detection and quantification where simple operation, rapid detection, portability, small size, high selectivity, and high sensitivity are required.