1. Design, Development, Characterization, and Validation of A Paper-based Microchip Electrophoresis System
- Author
-
Hasan, Muhammad Noman
- Subjects
- Mechanical Engineering, Paper-based, MicroChip Electrophoresis, MCE, electrophoresis, pH mapping, thermal mapping, image-based,
- Abstract
Electrophoresis techniques are analytic platforms widely used for analyzing complex analytes such as proteins, antibodies, and DNA. Often a series of analyses of these analytes is required for analytical purposes. Thus analytical systems, capable of producing accurate, reproducible results are highly desired. The advent of micro-scale total analysis system (µTAS) opened the possibility of miniaturized analytical system which can provide qualitative and/or qualitative assessment while analyzing complex analyte. MicroChip Electrophoresis (MCE) enables fast, efficient, and reliable analysis because of the accelerated sample processing, and increased reaction rate due to the sample being analyzed is minute in volume. In addition, the ability to provide high-resolution separation of a complex mixture of analytes in a smaller length scale (compared to their traditional counterparts) enables them in high throughput applications, which demand many disciplines such as biology, chemistry, environmental testing, as well as engineering. The effort towards the miniaturization of electrophoresis techniques has yielded a plethora of materials, methods, and process development and a vast amount of these efforts have been emphasized in greater portability, cost-reduction and large scale fabrication; thus enabling single-use rapid, reliable, high throughput analytical tools for testing in remote and/or resource-limited setting.The potential of MCE platform prompted a surge in microfluidic implementation of miniaturization of electrophoresis, and the majority of the efforts have been concentrated on capillary electrophoresis. A great volume of analytical and experimental work has enriched the understanding of capillary electrophoresis. This ample understanding of the electrokinetic phenomena for capillary electrophoresis has curved the success of the capillary-based MCE platforms. The emergence of paper-based microfluidics in the past decade has also marked the onset of miniaturization of paper-based MCE platforms. The lower material cost (compared to capillary electrophoresis), simpler fabrication approach (such as channel fabrication, and electrode integration), ease of sample injection/transfer holds the key for a disposable, mass-producible analytical system with long self-life. These are the essential factors that govern the feasibility of the translation of lab-based proof-of-concept technology to a commercial product. The blessings of MCE technologies can only be materialized only if successful commercialization of such technologies can be made available, not only for state of the art scientific application but also for widespread application in various disciplines and different kinds of end-users. In this doctoral dissertation, I describe the design, development, fabrication, mass and thermal transport characterization, and clinical validation of the MCE platform for hemoglobin variant testing application.
- Published
- 2020