Lab-on-a-Pill: wireless microfluidics for in vivo immunodiagnostics

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Previously, Lab-on-a-Chip technologies have exploited many aspects of microsystems technology, including both sensor miniaturisation and microfluidics, to produce technologies associated with DNA analysis, proteomics and diagnostics. Despite the numerous analytical advantages that are delivered as a consequence of miniaturisation into Lab-on-a-Chip, the vast majority of all devices that have been proposed (with the exception of handheld biosensors, first developed 20 years ago), most often require to be based on a laboratory bench. In contrast, wireless 'Lab-on-a-Pill' technology now has the proven ability to deliver both remote and-or distributed analysis, resulting in a wide range of potential applications, including those associated with biomedical analysis in the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract, process control in industry, environmental analysis and the functional foods industry. The concept is one of a battery-powered technology platform, which combines miniaturised sensors, a low power radio transmitter and receiver and power management modules, and an array of microsensors. Our current prototype can measure pH, disolved oxygen (pO2), temperature and conductivity, and has been proven with wireless measurements in a pig, using radiotelemtry to track its position. The device is controlled by an ASIC. This application now seeks to implement important technological challenges associated with implementing microfluidics on the Pill in order to enable advanced diagnostic tests. In this project we will illustrate this by performing remote immunodiagnostics. As an example, we will try to perform a remote biochemical assay for a marker for colon cancer in the lower GI tract.