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Microfluidics
....The goal of this group
is to research a microfluidic system using the concept
of membrane-movement to design and fabricate micro-pneumatic
values and pumps to form a multiple bio-sensing diagnostic
chip. The automatic bio-sampling system includes a micro-diagnostic
chip fabricated by using MEMS (Micro-electro-mechanical-systems)
technology and an automatic platform comprising of a
control circuit, a compressed air source and several
electromagnetic valve switches. The control circuit
is used to regulate the electromagnetic valve switches,
causing thin PDMS membranes to deflect pneumatically
by the compressed air and generate valving and pumping
effects.
....Quick diagnosis of
pathogens has been a critical measure for the control
of infectious diseases. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent
assay, commonly known as ELISA, is one of the most popular
diagnostic methods among the existing immunological
assays for disease detection due to its simplicity and
high sensitivity. The micro-diagnostic chip allows for
the quick detection of the following diseases: AIDS
virus (HIV 1/2), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis
C virus (HCV), human T-cell lymphotrophic virus (HTLV),
and syphilis.
....Compared to large-scale
systems, the new microfluidic system uses smaller amounts
of samples and reagents and performs fast diagnosis
in an automated format. Instead of using traditional
pneumatic micro-pumps, the current study adopts a new
design called "spider-web" micro-pumps to increase the
pumping rate, and more importantly, improve the uniformity
of flow rates inside multiple micro-channels. Experimental
data show that for multiple disease diagnosis, the multi
bio-sensing chips integrated with the micro-pneumatic
valves and the peristaltic micropumps could successfully
execute ELISA tests. Small amounts of samples and reagents
could be injected into the diagnosis chips and multiple
disease detection could be performed automatically without
cross contamination. The development of the automatic
bio-sensing chips could provide a useful tool for fast
disease detection and be crucial for a micro-total-analysis
system.
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