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，其中一个关键是心血管疾病。数以百万计的人患有慢性心脏病，需要定期监测疾病进展情况，全球各地也有数百万人报告了急性心血管事件，如肺血栓或心肌梗死。在慢性和急性心脏情况下，都非常希望能够获得分散的高性能生物分析设备，提供从分析到结果的较短时间。分散的、高性能的定量设备尚不存在，需要在生物传感、样品制备和小型化方面取得革命性的发展。该博士项目旨在开发一种基于微流控的自动化免疫生物传感平台，用于在单个时间点检测心血管疾病的多个生物标志物。生物标志物如D-二聚体、脑钠尿肽和C-反应蛋白已被证明是心血管疾病早期检测的良好预测指标。在不需要昂贵设备的情况下，在需要的时候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且具有成本效益的传感平台。从生产的角度来看，我们的目标是使用可扩展且易于获取的材料，例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并在不同表面制造传感器的可能性。这不仅有助于我们降低生产成本，还将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，通过利用高科技打印技术，我们可以确保传感器始终准确可靠。在此之前，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，该平台的设计将是用户友好的，允许个人轻松地自己进行测试，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，围绕博士生导师首创的‘微流控虹吸’概念，以高通量和低样本消耗实现高性能免疫分析的自动化。我们将提出一种新的先进的生物传感方法，可以从少量血液或人血清样本中定量测量各种心脏生物标志物。我们将使用诸如阻抗谱(EIS)、伏安法和光学免疫生物传感等电化学测量来验证传感器。微流体设计的开发将得到多物理和计算流体动力学模拟软件的帮助，如COMSOL和Ansys Fluent.早期检测心血管疾病的指标。在不需要昂贵设备的情况下在需要时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.