Strategies for AC electrokinetic manipulation and detection of viruses in microfluidic environments

目前的诊断工具无法提供病原性病毒（艾滋病毒-艾滋病、H1N1、西尼罗河病毒）的早期检测，无法预防或早期遏制感染。此外，世界各国政府，沿着平民和军队，越来越关注生物战和生物恐怖主义袭击的威胁。不幸的是，检测致病颗粒需要耗时费力的程序，通常必须在配备适当的集中设施中进行。这意味着诊断延迟，医疗保健费用增加，工作生产力下降，最重要的是，可预防的死亡。然而，对设备小型化的研究已经产生了希望，即微传感器，例如今天用于血糖监测的微传感器，有朝一日将能够在“便携式实验室”中现场检测病毒。 我们的研究旨在开发微传感器，允许快速，灵敏和具有成本效益的筛选生物或环境样品中的病毒，而没有上述障碍。我们的传感器的新奇是基于两个关键元素的集成：（i）嵌入到设备中的微电极，通过加速从大量样品到传感器表面的病毒捕获来加速检测过程。(ii)一种叫做拉曼散射的光学现象。与需要使用额外程序和化学品的许多其他检测方法相比，拉曼允许立即和直接（“无标记”）检测病毒。 这项研究产生的专利产品和工艺将被政府或私营公司用于保障公共健康和安全，并用于早期发现牲畜中的病毒感染（例如，口蹄疫）和植物（例如，烟草花叶病毒相关疾病）。这个研究计划将培养和准备工业或学术生涯3博士。和3名硕士生谁将有一个很好的机会，在我们的研究密集型实验室参与多学科研究。

The inability of present-day diagnostic tools to provide early detection of pathogenic viruses (HIV-AIDS, H1N1, West Nile) does not allow prevention or early containment of an infection. Additionally, governments around the world, along with civilians and the military, are becoming increasingly concerned with threats of biological warfare and bio-terrorism attacks. Unfortunately, testing for pathogenic particles requires time-consuming and laborious procedures that usually must be performed in properly equipped, centralized facilities. This translates into delayed diagnoses, higher health care costs, lost of work productivity and, most importantly, preventable fatalities. Research in device miniaturization, however, has generated hope that micro-sensors, such as those used today for blood glucose monitoring, will one day enable on-site detection of viruses in "portable laboratories". Our research aims to develop micro-sensors that allow rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective screening for viruses in biological or environmental samples without the aforementioned obstacles. The novelty of our sensors is based on the integration of two key elements: (i) Microelectrodes embedded into the device that speed up the detection process by accelerating the capture of viruses from the bulk of the sample to the sensor's surface. (ii) An optical phenomenon called Raman scattering. In contrast to many other detection methods that require the use of additional procedures and chemicals, Raman allows for an immediate and direct ("label-free") detection of viruses. Patentable products and processes resulting from this research will be used by the government or private companies for safeguarding public health and safety and for the early detection of viral infections in livestock (e.g., foot and mouth disease) and plants (e.g., Tobacco Mosaic Virus-related diseases). This research program will train and prepare for industrial or academic careers 3 Ph.D. and 3 Masters students who will have an excellent opportunity to participate in multidisciplinary research in our research-intensive laboratory.