Hydrophobic marking line used to eliminate the edge effect in a microfluidic point-of-care testing device

摘要

The traversal rate for the liquid medium near a point-of-care testing (POCT) device microfluidic channel edge is faster than that through the body of the channel, which makes the fluid front meniscus becomes concave rather than convex or flat. The concave front is unwished due to its influences on quantitative analysis accuracy and the possibility to generate air bubbles. Here, a unique method, named hydrophobic marking line, is demonstrated. This method used a soft pen with hydrophobic ink to draw two lines along the edges of the channel of a POCT device. Results have shown that the marking lines will eliminate the edge effects and generate convex liquid front. The curvature of the liquid front can be changed by adjusting the marking line width or ink solutions.