Portable and rapid solid sample preparation system utilizing twin-screw mechanism for diagnostic applications.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Analytical Chemistry
• In Vitro Diagnostics

Background:

• Solid specimen processing is vital for diagnostics but often hindered by time-consuming methods and large equipment.
• Current techniques limit the integration of solid samples into rapid diagnostic workflows.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, rapid, and portable system for efficient solid sample preparation.
• To overcome limitations of conventional methods in processing diverse solid samples for analytical testing.

Main Methods:

• Introduction of a twin-screw mechanical maceration system utilizing counter-rotating screws for high shear force generation.
• Validation of the system's efficiency in bacterial elution from plant tissues and single-cell dissociation from animal tissues.
• Exploration of scalability and portability using a 3D-printed miniaturized device.

Main Results:

• Achieved bacterial elution from plant samples in under 1 minute, 30x faster than conventional stomaching.
• Generated single-cell suspensions from animal tissues within 1 minute, accommodating various sample sizes.
• Demonstrated comparable performance with a miniaturized, 3D-printed device enabling manual, power-free operation.

Conclusions:

• The twin-screw system offers a rapid, compact, and adaptable solution for solid sample preparation.
• This innovation significantly outperforms traditional methods, with broad potential in point-of-care diagnostics, tissue analysis, and monitoring applications.