Non-invasive micro/nano manipulation using opto-electrofluidics

对物质的控制和操纵是人类无止境的奋进。在微米和纳米尺度上，物体的微妙性质通常需要非侵入性操作。微流控和芯片实验室系统的进展在非侵入性操作领域同时活跃。在过去的50年里，出现了几种操纵方案，如光镊、介电泳和磁泳。过去十年的创新导致了一整套新技术的发展，这些技术有望实现微流体非侵入性操作的范式转变：光电流控。本质上，光电流控是微流体技术，其采用光学和电力的协同组合，以实现在微米和纳米长度尺度上对物质的非侵入性控制。这种协同作用赋予这些技术几个新的特征，如更高的吞吐量沿着高分辨率，动态用户定义的操纵和更高的自由度。由于这些特征，光电流控技术有望在分子和即时诊断领域取得实质性进展。在分子和即时诊断的范围内，光电流控的几个方面有望发挥相关作用。这些包括但不限于增强的传感器效率、样品制备、纯化、扩增和检测。然而，光电流是一个非常新兴的领域，在充分发挥其潜力之前，必须在这一领域进行积极的研究。这项建议涉及一个实验设施的发展，这将侧重于基础和应用研究有关的光电流技术。通过推进对这些技术的基本理解，我们将奋进为生物医学界提供这些技术的好处。特别是，我们将进行急需的研究和开发工作，在光电流向生物测定的应用。这里的目标将是在目前相关的生物测定中实现更高的效率、更短的周转时间和高特异性。这项研究也将是加拿大第一个此类设施之一。

The desire to control and manipulate matter at all length scales has been mankind's endless endeavor. At the micro and nano-scale, the delicate nature of objects typically necessitates non-invasive manipulation. Progress in microfluidic and lab-on-chip systems has seen concurrent activity in the field of non-invasive manipulation. Several schemes of manipulation such as optical tweezers, dielectrophoresis and magnetophoresis have appeared in the last 50 years. Innovations in the last decade have resulted in the development of a whole new set of technologies that promise a paradigm shift in microfluidic non-invasive manipulation: opto-electrofluidics. In essence, opto-electrofluidics are microfluidic technologies that employ a synergistic combination of optical and electrical forces to enable non-invasive control of matter at the micro and nano length scales. This synergy bestows upon these technologies several novel features such as higher throughput along with high resolution, dynamic user-defined manipulation and higher degrees of freedom. Due to these features, opto-electrofluidics promises substantial improvements in the field of molecular and point-of-care diagnostics. Within the scope of molecular and point-of-care diagnostics, several aspects of opto-electrofluidics promise to play a relevant role. These include, but are not limited to enhanced sensor efficiency, sample preparation, purification, amplification and detection. However, opto-electrofluidics is a very nascent field and vigorous research is necessary in this domain before its potential can be fully realized. This proposal concerns the development of an experimental facility, which will focus on fundamental and applied research related to opto-electrofluidic technologies. By advancing the fundamental understanding of these technologies, we will endeavor to provide the benefits of these technologies to the biomedical community. In particular, we will carry out much needed research and development efforts in the application of opto-electrofluidics towards bio-assays. Here the goal will be to achieve higher efficiency, smaller turnaround times and high specificity in currently relevant bio-assays. This research will also be one of the first of its kind facility in Canada.