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In recent years biomedical scientific community has been working towards the development of high-throughput devices that allow a reliable, rapid and parallel detection of several strains of virus or microparticles simultaneously. One of the complexities of this problem lies on the rapid prototyping of new devices and wireless rapid detection of small particles and virus alike. By reducing the complexity of microfluidics microfabrication and using economic materials along with makerspace tools (Avra Kundu, Ausaf, and Rajaraman 2018) it is possible to provide an affordable solution to both the problems of high-throughput devices and detection technologies. We present the development of a wireless, standalone device and disposable microfluidics chips that rapidly generate parallel readouts for selected, possible virus variants from a nasal or saliva sample, based on motorized and non-motorized microbeads detection, and imaging processing of the motion tracks of these beads in micrometers. Microbeads and SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 Delta variant were tested as proof-of-concept for testing the microfluidic cartridges and wireless imaging module. The Microbead Assay (MA) system kit consists of a WiFi readout module, a microfluidic chip, and a sample collection/processing sub-system. Here, we focus on the fabrication and characterization of the microfluidic chip to multiplex various micrometer-sized beads for economic, disposable, and simultaneous detection of up to six different viruses, microparticles or variants in a single test, and data collection using a commercially available, WiFi-capable, and camera integrated device (Fig. 1).

Benchtop tissue cultures have become increasingly complex in recent years, as more “on-a-chip” biological technologies such as Microphysiological Systems (MPSs) work to incorporate cellular constructs that more accurately represent their respective biological systems. Such MPSs have begun providing major breakthroughs in biological research and are poised to shape the field in the coming decades. These biological systems necessitate integrated sensing modalities to procure complex, multiplexed datasets, with unprecedented combinatorial biological detail. In this work we expand on our polymer-metal biosensor approach by demonstrating a facile technology towards compound biosensing which are characterized through custom modeling approaches. Herein we develop a compound chip with 3D microelectrodes, 3D microfluidics, Interdigitated Electrodes (IDEs) and a micro-heater. The chip is subsequently tested using electrical/electrochemical characterization of 3D microelectrodes with 1kHz impedance and phase recordings, and IDE-based high frequency (~ 1MHz frequencies) impedimetric analysis of differential localized temperature recordings, both of which are modelled through equivalent electrical circuits for process parameter extraction. Additionally, a simplified antibody-conjugation strategy was employed for a similar IDE-based analysis of the implications for a key analyte (L-Glutamine) binding on the equivalent electrical circuit. Lastly, acute microfluidic perfusion modelling was performed to demonstrate ease of microfluidics integration into such a polymer-metal biosensor platform for potential complimentary localized chemical stimulation. Combined, our work demonstrates the design, development, and characterization of an accessibly designed, polymer-metal compound biosensor for electrogenic cellular constructs, geared towards comprehensive MPS data collection.