title: Topography-assisted electromagnetic platform for blood-to-PCR in a droplet.
abstract: This paper presents an electromagnetically actuated platform for automated sample preparation and detection of nucleic acids. The proposed platform integrates nucleic acid extraction using silica-coated magnetic particles with real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on a single cartridge. Extraction of genomic material was automated by manipulating magnetic particles in droplets using a series of planar coil electromagnets assisted by topographical features, enabling efficient fluidic processing over a variety of buffers and reagents. The functionality of the platform was demonstrated by performing nucleic acid extraction from whole blood, followed by real-time PCR detection of KRAS oncogene. Automated sample processing from whole blood to PCR-ready droplet was performed in 15 min. We took a modular approach of decoupling the modules of magnetic manipulation and optical detection from the device itself, enabling a low-complexity cartridge that operates in tandem with simple external instruments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA; ITRI South, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Tainan City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chi-Han
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chiou
authors.forename: Dong Jin
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Tza-Huei
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000097:blood* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D059346:Magnets / Q000737:chemistry; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C117307:KRAS protein, human; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D004247:DNA; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D018631:ras Proteins
keywords: Droplet manipulation; Micro-total-analysis system; Real-time PCR; Solid-phase DNA extraction