A lab-on-a-chip system for the development of complex assays using modular microfluidic components

摘要

For complex biological or diagnostic assays, the development of an integrated microfluidic device can be difficult and error-prone. For this reason, a modular approach, using individual microfluidic functional modules for the different process steps, can be advantageous. However often the interconnection of the modules proves to be tedious and the peripheral instrumentation to drive the various modules is cumbersome and of large size. For this reason, we have developed an integrated instrument platform which has generic functionalities such as valves and pumps, heating zones for continuous-flow PCR, moveable magnets for bead-based assays and an optical detection unit build into the instrument. The instrument holds a titerplate-sized carrier in which up to four microscopy-slide sized microfluidic modules can be clipped in. This allows for developing and optimizing individual assay steps without the need to modify the instrument or generate a completely new microfluidic cartridge. As a proof-of-concept, the automated sample processing of liquor or blood culture in microfluidic structures for detection of currently occuring Neisseria meningitidis strains was carried out. This assay involves the extraction of bacterial DNA, the fluorescent labeling, amplification using PCR as well as the hybridization of the DNA molecules in three-dimensional capture sites spotted into a microchannel. To define the assay sensitivity, chip modules were tested with bacteria spiked samples of different origins and results were controlled by conventional techniques. For liquor or blood culture, the presence of 200 bacteria was detected within 1 hour.