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Modeling of Integrated Microfluidics-CMOS Lab-on-Chip Technology
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- Author / Creator
- Caverhill-Godkewitsch, Saul A.
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The infrastructure necessary to support diagnostic and pathogen-detection processes does not exist in some regions of the world that need it most. Access to fast, inexpensive and portable diagnostic infrastructure could be a solution to this problem.
Next generation lab-on-chip (LOC) systems that integrate polymer microfluidics with CMOS circuit instrumentation can replace the need for costly and immobile conventional diagnostic laboratories. Portable DNA-based tests require three components: sample preparation (SP), amplification and detection. Finite element analysis allows for complicated engineering designs to be modeled to determine real-world behaviour, allowing key parameters to be explored prior to
fabrication, saving time and money during prototyping.
The BioMEMS project group at the University of Alberta has been working on a series of integrated polymer microfluidic-CMOS platforms or "chips" as such LOC systems. Amplification is performed via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in our LOC platform. Significant updates to the SP and PCR modules of the three-step diagnostic process were required for the latest revision of the chip. By leveraging the power of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) modeling, an SP module
capable of processing a 1 μL sample in minutes was designed and built. Similarly, PCR heaters were designed that generate ±0.5 ◦C uniformity at a target temperature of 95 ◦C in the reaction chamber volume while enabling a 3-step PCR protocol of 35 cycles (4.19 seconds per cycle) in under two and a half minutes. These achievements are a step towards altering the current state of inaccessible point of care (POC) diagnostics. -
- Graduation date
- Fall 2015
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Science
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.