Capillary-Driven Microfluidic Electrical Screening of Influenza H3N2-Infected A549 Cells Using AgNP-Decorated...

Area of Science:

• Microfluidics
• Nanotechnology
• Biosensing

Background:

• Developing efficient platforms for detecting virus-infected cells is crucial for public health.
• Existing methods often require complex sample preparation or labels, limiting rapid screening.
• Microfluidic devices offer miniaturization and integration potential for point-of-care diagnostics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a capillary-driven microfluidic electrical screening platform for analyzing H3N2-infected A549 cells.
• To integrate laser patterning, silver nanoparticle (AgNP) deposition, and electrical readout into a single device.
• To evaluate the platform's performance in distinguishing infected from non-infected cells.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of villous microstructures on glass using nanosecond laser patterning.
• Deposition of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to create conductive microelectrodes.
• Utilizing passive capillary transport for sample handling.
• Direct electrical readout for label-free cell analysis.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated microstructured electrodes with tunable wettability and capillary transport.
• The 30 μm pitch structure showed the highest current response (22 μA at 1 V) and normalized current change (Δ*I*_norm = 0.053).
• Electrically distinguished H3N2-infected A549 cells from controls over a concentration range of 10¹-10⁶ PFU/μL, with detection down to 10¹ PFU/μL.

Conclusions:

• The developed microfluidic platform provides a label-free, self-driven, and fabrication-oriented strategy for electrical screening of virus-infected cells.
• Laser patterning and AgNP decoration enable sensitive and specific detection of H3N2-infected cells.
• This approach holds promise for rapid and efficient viral diagnostics.