Laser-actuated centrifugo-pneumatic flow control towards ‘sample-to-answer’ integrated detection of multi-marker panels at the point-of-care

Abstract

Point-of-care diagnostics devices require user-friendly automation of multi-step / multi-reagent bioana-lytical protocols. We demonstrate, for the first time, Laser-actuated, Centrifugo-Pneumatic Valves (LCPVs) which open on-demand by ablating a remotely connected polymeric membrane with an instrument-based laser. Due to its small footprint, isolation of radiation-induced heating from the biological fluids and independence of radial position & contact-angle, the novel LCPV technology enables large-scale integration of flexibly customizable and operationally robust centrifugal microfluidic “Lab-on-a-Disc” (LoaD) systems. As a pilot application, we demonstrate the detection of Fatty Acid Binding Protein and Myeloperoxidase, both potential biomarkers used for cardiovascular disease (CVD) determination.