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

在此之前，芯片实验室技术已经利用了微系统技术的许多方面，包括传感器集成和微流体技术，以产生与DNA分析，蛋白质组学和诊断相关的技术。尽管芯片实验室具有许多分析优势，但绝大多数已提出的设备（20年前首次开发的手持式生物传感器除外）通常需要基于实验室工作台。相比之下，无线“药丸实验室”技术现在已经证明能够提供远程和/或分布式分析，从而产生广泛的潜在应用，包括与胃肠道（GI）的生物医学分析，工业过程控制，环境分析和功能性食品行业相关的应用。该概念是一个电池供电的技术平台，它结合了嵌入式传感器，低功耗无线电发射器和接收器以及电源管理模块，以及一系列微传感器。我们目前的原型可以测量pH值，溶解氧（pO 2），温度和电导率，并已被证明与无线测量猪，使用无线电遥测跟踪其位置。该设备由ASIC控制。该应用现在寻求实现与在药丸上实现微流体相关的重要技术挑战，以便实现先进的诊断测试。在这个项目中，我们将通过执行远程免疫诊断来说明这一点。例如，我们将尝试对下消化道结肠癌的标志物进行远程生化测定。

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.