Novel microfluidics for rapid high-performance biosensing detection

非传染性疾病是全世界最大的死亡原因，其中一个主要原因是心血管疾病。数百万人患有慢性心脏病，需要定期监测疾病进展，全球还有数百万人报告急性心血管事件，如肺栓塞或心肌梗死。在慢性和急性心脏情况下，非常希望能够获得分散的高性能生物分析设备，从分析到结果的时间短。分散的、高性能的定量设备尚未可用，需要生物传感、样品制备和小型化方面的变革性发展。该博士项目旨在开发一种基于微流体的自动化免疫生物传感平台，用于在单时间点检测心血管疾病的多种生物标志物。生物标志物如d -二聚体、脑利钠肽和c反应蛋白已被证明是早期发现心血管疾病的良好预测指标。在不需要昂贵设备的情况下，在需要的地方同时测量这些生物标志物的能力，将对心血管疾病的管理和预防产生革命性的影响。特别是，我们的目标是开发一个灵活和具有成本效益的传感平台。从生产角度来看，我们的目标是使用可扩展且易于获取的材料，如基于聚合物的传感平台。此外，该项目旨在探索使用高科技和快速打印技术大规模生产传感器及其在各种表面上制造的可能性。这不仅可以帮助我们降低生产成本，还可以使这些传感平台更广泛地提供给世界各地的患者和医疗保健专业人员。此外，通过利用高科技印刷技术，我们可以确保传感器始终准确可靠。未来，我们将重点研究利用纳米颗粒来提高传感器的选择性和灵敏度。此外，该平台将被设计成用户友好的，允许个人轻松地自己执行测试，而不需要专门的培训或专业知识。我们将提供一个先进的微流控检测平台，围绕由博士导师首创的“微流控虹吸”概念建立，实现高通量、低样品消耗、多路复用样品的高性能免疫分析自动化。我们将提出一种新的先进生物传感方法，可以从少量血液或人类血清样本中定量测量各种心脏生物标志物。我们将使用电化学测量，如电阻抗谱（EIS）、伏安法和光学免疫生物传感来验证传感器。微流体设计的开发将借助COMSOL和Ansys Fluent等多物理场和计算流体动力学仿真软件。医生早期发现心血管疾病。在不需要昂贵设备的情况下，在需要的地方同时测量这些生物标志物的能力，将对心血管疾病的管理和预防产生革命性的影响。

Non-communicable diseases are the largest cause of death worldwide, with a key one being cardiovascular diseases. Millions of people live with chronic cardiac conditions requiring regular monitoring of disease progression, also millions of people across the globe report acute cardiovascular incidents, such as pulmonary embolism or myocardial infarction. In both chronic and acute cardiac situations, it is highly desirable to have access to decentralized high-performance bioanalytical equipment offering a short time from analysis to results. Decentralized, high-performance quantitative equipment is not yet available, requiring transformative developments in biosensing, sample preparation, and miniaturization. This PhD project aims to develop an automated microfluidic-based immuno-biosensing platform for the detection of multiple biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases at a single point in time. Biomarkers like D-dimer, brain natriuretic peptide, and C-reactive protein have been shown to be good predictors of early detection of cardiovascular diseases. The ability to measure these biomarkers simultaneously at the point-of-need without access to expensive equipment would be transformative for the management and prevention of cardiovascular diseases.In particular, we aim to develop a sensing platform that is flexible and cost-effective. From a production perspective, we aim to use scalable and easily accessible materials such as polymer-based sensing platforms. Furthermore, the project aims to explore the possibility of using a high-tech and rapid printing technique for the mass production of sensors and their fabrication on various surfaces. This would not only help us lower production costs but also make these sensing platforms more widely available and accessible to patients and healthcare professionals worldwide. Additionally, by utilizing a high-tech printing technique, we can ensure the sensors are consistently accurate and reliable. In advance, we will focus on the utilization of nanoparticles to enhance the selectivity and sensitivity of the sensor. Additionally, the platform will be designed to be user-friendly, allowing individuals to easily perform the test themselves without the need for specialized training or expertise. We will deliver an advanced microfluidic detection platform built around the 'microfluidic siphon' concept pioneered by the PhD supervisor, enabling automation of high-performance immunoassays with multiplexed samples at high-throughput and low sample consumption. We will present a new advanced biosensing approach that can measure a variety of cardiac biomarkers quantitatively from a small sample of blood or human serum. We will validate the sensor using electrochemical measurements such as Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), voltammetry, and optical immune-biosensing. Development of the microfluidic designs will be assisted with Multiphysics and computational fluid dynamics simulation software like COMSOL and Ansys Fluent.dictors of early detection of cardiovascular diseases. The ability to measure simultaneously these biomarkers in the point-of-need without access to expensive equipment would be transformative for the management and prevention of cardiovascular diseases.