A 3D-printed modular magnetic digital microfluidic architecture for on-demand bioanalysis

Pojchanun Kanitthamniyom; Aiwu Zhou; Shilun Feng; Aiqun Liu; Shawn Vasoo; Yi Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41378-020-0152-4

A 3D-printed modular magnetic digital microfluidic architecture for on-demand bioanalysis

Microsyst Nanoeng. 2020 Jun 29:6:48. doi: 10.1038/s41378-020-0152-4. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Pojchanun Kanitthamniyom¹, Aiwu Zhou², Shilun Feng³, Aiqun Liu³, Shawn Vasoo⁴, Yi Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
² School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
³ School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
⁴ National Center for Infectious Disease, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.

Abstract

Magnetic digital microfluidics (MDM) manipulates fluids in the form of droplets on an open substrate, and incorporates surface energy traps (SETs) to facilitate the droplet manipulation. Conventional MDM devices are fabricated monolithically, which makes it difficult to modify the device configuration without completely overhauling the original design. In this paper, we present a modular MDM architecture that enables rapid on-demand configuration and re-configuration of MDM platforms for customized bioanalyses. Each modular component contains a SET and a Lego-like antistud that fits onto a base board with Lego-like studs. We illustrate the versatility of the modular MDM architecture in biomarker sensing, pathogen identification, antibiotic resistance determination, and biochemical quantification by demonstrating immunoassays, phenotypical assays and enzymatic assays on various modular MDM platforms configured on demand to accomplish the fluidic operations required by assorted bioanalytical assays. The modular MDM architecture promises great potential for point-of-care diagnostics by offering on-demand customization of testing platforms for various categories of diagnostic assays. It also provides a new avenue for microfluidic assay development with its high configurability which would significantly reduce the time and cost of the development cycle.

Keywords: Biosensors; Microfluidics.