title: Rapid Optical Cavity PCR.
abstract: Recent outbreaks of deadly infectious diseases, such as Ebola and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, have motivated the research for accurate, rapid diagnostics that can be administered at the point of care. Nucleic acid biomarkers for these diseases can be amplified and quantified via polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In order to solve the problems of conventional PCR--speed, uniform heating and cooling, and massive metal heating blocks--an innovative optofluidic cavity PCR method using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is accomplished. Using this device, 30 thermal cycles between 94 °C and 68 °C can be accomplished in 4 min for 1.3 μL (10 min for 10 μL). Simulation results show that temperature differences across the 750 μm thick cavity are less than 2 °C and 0.2 °C, respectively, at 94 °C and 68 °C. Nucleic acid concentrations as low as 10(-8) ng μL(-1) (2 DNA copies per μL) can be amplified with 40 PCR thermal cycles. This simple, ultrafast, precise, robust, and low-cost optofluidic cavity PCR is favorable for advanced molecular diagnostics and precision medicine. It is especially important for the development of lightweight, point-of-care devices for use in both developing and developed countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.|Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Jun Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Son
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.|Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: SoonGweon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Haack
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gustafson
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.|Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Minsun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Ori
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hoxha
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.|Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.|Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.|Biophysics Graduate Program, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Luke P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004581:Electronics; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D006046:Gold
keywords: light-emitting diodes; molecular diagnostics; optical cavities; point-of-care diagnostics; polymerase chain reaction