On-chip porous microgel generation for microfluidic enhanced VEGF detection

Zhengtuo Zhao; Mohammad Ali Al-Ameen; Kai Duan; Gargi Ghosh; Joe Fujiou Lo

doi:10.1016/j.bios.2015.06.047

On-chip porous microgel generation for microfluidic enhanced VEGF detection

Biosens Bioelectron. 2015 Dec 15:74:305-12. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2015.06.047. Epub 2015 Jun 22.

Authors

Zhengtuo Zhao¹, Mohammad Ali Al-Ameen¹, Kai Duan¹, Gargi Ghosh², Joe Fujiou Lo³

Affiliations

¹ Bioengineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Dearborn, United States.
² Bioengineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Dearborn, United States. Electronic address: gargi@umich.edu.
³ Bioengineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Dearborn, United States. Electronic address: jfjlo@umich.edu.

PMID: 26148675
DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2015.06.047

Abstract

Advances in medical diagnostics and personalized therapy require sensitive and rapid measurement of minute amounts of proteins from patients. Standard ELISA is difficult to prepare and involves lengthy protocols. Here we report a novel method using capture antibody immobilized porous poly (ethylene) glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel microspheres to enable high sensitivity VEGF detection in arrayed microfluidics. Our technique incorporates antibody encapsulation, trapping, and flow perfusion on a single device. We showed that the convergence of tunable porous hydrogel with efficient microfluidics improved the sensitivity of the assay. The detection limit of this microfluidic porous microgel based assay was 0.9 pg/mL, with only 1+ hour of assay time, demonstrating a novel assay that exceeded conventional technologies in terms of sensitivity and speed.

Keywords: Droplet generation; Microfluidics; Poly (ethylene) glycol diacrylate (PEGDA); Porogen; Porosity; Serpentine traps.; VEGF.

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Immobilized / chemistry
Biosensing Techniques / instrumentation*
Equipment Design
Humans
Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / chemistry*
Limit of Detection
Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / instrumentation*
Polyethylene Glycols / chemistry*
Porosity
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / analysis*

Substances

Antibodies, Immobilized
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate
Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate
Polyethylene Glycols