A Lab-on-PCB biomedical diagnostic platform for on-chip protein preconcentration.

对于基于蛋白质的即时诊断，设备的灵敏度受到样品中含有少量蛋白质的限制。该项目的目的是利用一种称为“等电聚焦”（IEF）的蛋白质分离方法，以及对局部pH值的电化学控制，根据等电点（PI）对小样本中的蛋白质进行同时纯化、预浓缩和分离。完成的设备将在印刷电路板（PCB）平台上结合这些技术，PCB实验室，并将能够有效诊断从癌症到传染病等广泛的健康状况。等电聚焦通常是指在外加电场作用下，蛋白质由于其等电点（蛋白质的羧基/胺基被中和的pH值）而沿着pH梯度的宏观分离。通过产生一种可以精确控制和维持局部pH值的机制，该装置将能够根据提供给电极的电流或电压对特定蛋白质进行等电聚焦。在这种创新的方法中，我们的目标是使这些过程小型化，并利用PCB格式中的微流体技术来预先浓缩蛋白质进行分析。可预见的里程碑式任务如下：评估这两种技术的现状；使用COMSOL Multiphysics模拟现有技术；根据模拟结果进行实验；将获得的知识整合到设计，模拟，构建和测试原型中，该原型将IEF与小型化PCB平台中的局部pH控制方法相结合。

For point-of-care protein-based diagnosis, the sensitivity of a device is limited by the small quantities of proteins contained within a sample. The aim of this project is to utilise a method of protein separation termed 'isoelectric focusing' (IEF) along with electrochemical control of the local pH to perform simultaneous purification, preconcentration and separation of proteins within a small sample based on their isoelectric points (PI). The finished device will combine these techniques on a printed circuit board (PCB) platform, lab-on-PCB, and will enable the efficient diagnosis for a broad range of health conditions, ranging from cancer to infectious disease.Isoelectric focusing ordinarily refers to the macroscopic separation of proteins along a pH gradient due to their isoelectric point (the pH at which the carboxyl/amine groups of a protein are neutralised) with an applied electric field. By producing a mechanism through which the local pH may be precisely controlled and maintained, the proposed device will be able to perform isoelectric focusing of specific proteins based on the current or voltage supplied to electrodes. In this innovative approach, we aim to miniaturise these processes and utilise microfluidic techniques within a PCB format to preconcentrate proteins for analysis.The foreseeable landmark tasks will be as follows:Assess the current state of the art for both techniques;Simulate existing techniques using COMSOL Multiphysics;Perform experiments based on the results of the simulations;Integrate the knowledge gained into designing, simulating, building and testing a prototype which combines IEF with a method of local pH control in a miniaturised PCB platform.