1. Handheld and ‘Turnkey’ 3D printed paper-microfluidic viscometer with on-board microcontroller for smartphone based biosensing applications
- Author
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S B Puneeth and Sanket Goel
- Subjects
Paper ,Microfluidics ,02 engineering and technology ,01 natural sciences ,Biochemistry ,Microstrip ,Analytical Chemistry ,law.invention ,Bluetooth ,law ,Lab-On-A-Chip Devices ,Humans ,Environmental Chemistry ,Spectroscopy ,Microchannel ,Chemistry ,business.industry ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Viscometer ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,0104 chemical sciences ,Microcontroller ,Viscosity (programming) ,Printing, Three-Dimensional ,Smartphone ,0210 nano-technology ,business ,Biosensor ,Computer hardware - Abstract
Herein, Microfluidic Paper-based Analytical Devices (μPAD) strips, also called microstrips, have been fabricated using a fused-deposition modeling (FDM) based 3D printer. A polycaprolactone (PCL) filament on a chromatography paper was harnessed to create hydrophobic boundaries of a microchannel. A pair of screen-printed electrodes, with known separation, were integrated on the microchannel to measure the time taken for fluid automatically. A mini electronic sub-system, amenable to connect with an android smartphone, consists of an easily programmable microcontroller, Bluetooth module and voltage booster circuit. The pluggable-and-playable disposable microstrip was utilized to measure the viscosity of various biological samples with an accuracy of92% with respect to a benchtop viscometer. In particular, the protein denaturation of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) and Lysozyme, and viscosity variation of human saliva have been observed. With a competency to measure the viscosity between 0.5 cP to 10 cP, platform cost ofUS$ 8 and a cost-per-test of less than US$ 0.02, the present device has a strong potential to be employed as a personalized gadget for various viscosity dependent measurements.
- Published
- 2021
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