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体病毒(艾滋病毒-艾滋病、甲型H1N1流感、西尼罗河病毒)的早期检测，因此无法预防或早期遏制感染。此外，世界各地的政府以及平民和军方越来越担心生物战和生物恐怖主义袭击的威胁。不幸的是，对致病颗粒的检测需要耗时和费力的程序，这些程序通常必须在配备适当的中央设施中进行。这会导致诊断延误、医疗成本上升、工作效率下降，最重要的是，还会导致可预防的死亡。然而，设备小型化的研究带来了希望，即微型传感器，如今天用于血糖监测的微型传感器，有朝一日将能够在“便携式实验室”现场检测病毒。我们的研究目标是开发微型传感器，使其能够在生物或环境样本中快速、灵敏和经济有效地筛查病毒，而不存在上述障碍。我们传感器的新颖性基于两个关键元素的集成：(I)嵌入设备中的微电极，通过加速将病毒从大量样本捕获到传感器表面来加快检测过程。(Ii)一种称为拉曼散射的光学现象。与许多其他需要使用额外程序和化学物质的检测方法不同，拉曼允许立即直接(无标记)检测病毒。这项研究产生的可申请专利的产品和方法将被政府或私营公司用于保障公共健康和安全，并用于及早发现牲畜(如口蹄疫)和植物(如烟草花叶病毒相关疾病)中的病毒感染。这一研究计划将为工业或学术生涯培养和准备3名博士和3名硕士研究生，他们将有极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.