Resonant microfluidic circuits for assay automation and detection in point-of-care diagnostics

PI：Lutz，BarryInstitution：华盛顿大学智力优势：微流体领域的目标是创建便携式“实验室”来进行分析测试。设备通常是简单的聚合物卡，需要辅助设备来控制流体(例如，泵、阀、控制器)并检测测试结果(例如，成像)。使用点医疗诊断、环境监测、生物威胁检测等的一个关键挑战是减少仪器的费用和物理负担。几乎每个人都有一部可以作为测试工具的手机--它们无处不在，由电池供电，易于使用--而且它们能够生成、检测和传递信息丰富的音频信号。我们设想了一种连接到电话耳机上的一次性测试卡，其中音频音调(1)通过与卡“对话”来控制流体步骤，以及(2)通过“听”卡的输出来量化测试结果。这一原理是基于电气和流体电路之间的经典类比。在电路中，通过电阻、电感、电容器和二极管(例如无线电调谐器)的简单组合来创建有用的功能。通过使用微尺度通道中的振荡流动(“交流微流体”)，我们可以恢复我们从电路中知道的功能。这项提议旨在开发交流微流控电路，为使用点测试执行分析功能。将创建经典电路的流体版本(例如，带通滤波器)，并将流体电路频率响应的测量结果与电路模型进行比较。卡中将加入一个“麦克风”来测量电路输出，并将通过基于模型的设计和实验验证来开发基于音频的传感电路。将开发在电路元件中产生物理变化的信号转导化学，该系统将用于检测疟疾生物标记物。更广泛的影响：助学金将支持全球健康诊断跨学科领域的学生项目，这些项目提供丰富的教育经验，需要将工程学与更广泛的健康、文化、伦理、监管程序和低资源环境下的商业化问题相结合。全球卫生重点还在工程(简单性、成本、易用性)方面引入了独特的限制，这些限制往往需要创造性和简单的解决方案。满足全球卫生需求的技术将在公共宣传中得到强调，包括在我们一年一度的工程开放日上亲身体验展览。本科生将参与设计项目，开发用于手机数据分析的卡到手机界面和手机应用程序，PI将在实验室接待一批学生，作为UW STEM Bridge计划的一部分，该计划旨在鼓励未被充分代表的学生在科学、技术、工程和数学学科中追求职业生涯。

PI: Lutz, BarryInstitution: University Of WashingtonIntellectual Merit: The field of microfluidics aims to create portable "laboratories" to carry out analytical tests. Devices are typically simple polymer cards that require supporting equipment to control fluids (e.g., pumps, valves, controllers) and detect test results (e.g., imaging). A key challenge for point-of-use medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, bio-threat detection, etc. is reducing the expense and physical burden of the instrumentation. Nearly everyone has a cell phone that could serve as a test instrument- they are ubiquitous, battery-powered, easy-to-use-and they are capable of generating, detecting, and communicating information-rich audio signals. We envision a disposable test card connected to a phone earbud, where audio tones (1) control fluidic steps by "talking" to the card, and (2) quantify test results by "listening" to the output from the card. The principle is based on a classic analogy between electrical and fluidic circuits. In electrical circuits, useful functions are created via simple combinations of resistors, inductors, capacitors, and diodes (e.g., a radio tuner). By using oscillating flows in microscale channels ("AC microfluidics"), we can resurrect functions that we know from electrical circuits. This proposal aims to develop AC microfluidic circuits that perform analytical functions for point-of-use testing. Fluidic versions of classic electrical circuits will be created (e.g., band-pass filters), and measurements of the fluidic circuit frequency response will be compared to electrical circuit models. A "microphone" will be incorporated into cards to measure circuit output, and audio-based sensing circuits will be developed via model-based design and experimental validation. Signal transduction chemistries will be developed that produce physical changes in a circuit component, and the system will be used to detect a malarial biomarker. Broader Impacts: The grant will support student projects in the cross-disciplinary field of global health diagnostics, which offers rich educational experiences that require integration of engineering with broader issues of health, culture, ethics, regulatory procedures, and commercialization in low-resource settings. The global health focus also introduces unique constraints on engineering (simplicity, cost, ease-of-use) that often require creative and simple solutions. Technology for global health needs will be highlighted in public outreach including hands-on exhibition at our annual Engineering Open House. Undergraduate students will participate in design projects to develop card-to-phone interfaces and cell phone "apps" for on-phone data analysis, and the PI will host a group of students in the laboratory as part of the UW STEM Bridge program that aims to encourage underrepresented students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.