The technology could bring innovative sensors and analytical devices for lab-on-a-chip applications, or miniature instruments that perform measurements normally requiring large laboratory equipment.
Rapid electrokinetic patterning (REP) is a potential new tool for applications, including medical diagnostics; testing food, water, and contaminated soil; isolating DNA for gene sequencing; crime-scene forensics; and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The researchers have used the method for the first time to collect microscopic bacteria and fungi, says Steven T. Wereley, a professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University.
“The new results demonstrate that REP can be used to sort biological particles but also that the technique is a powerful tool for development of a high-performance on-chip bioassay system,” Wereley says.
A research paper about the technology was on the cover of the December 7 issue of Lab on a Chip magazine, and appears as a news item in the January 13 issue of Nature Photonics.
The technology works by using a highly focused infrared laser to heat fluid in a microchannel containing particles or bacteria. An electric field is applied, combining with the laser’s heating action to circulate the fluid in a “microfluidic vortex,” whirling mini-maelstroms one-tenth the width of a human hair that work like a centrifuge to isolate specific types of particles based on size.
Particles of different sizes can be isolated by changing the electrical frequency, and the vortex moves wherever the laser is pointed, representing a method for positioning specific types of particles for detection and analysis.
The researchers used REP to collect three types of microorganisms: a bacterium called Shewanella oneidensis MR-1; Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a single-cell spherical fungus; and Staphylococcus aureus, a spherical bacterium. The new findings demonstrate the tool’s ability to perform size-based separation of microorganisms, Wereley says.
“By properly choosing the electrical frequency we can separate blood components, such as platelets,” he says. “Say you want to collect Shewanella bacteria, so you use a certain electrical frequency and collect them. Then the next day you want to collect platelets from blood. That’s going to be a different frequency. We foresee the ability to dynamically select what you will collect, which you could not do with conventional tools.”
The overall research field is called “optoelectrical microfluidics.” More research is needed before the technology is ready for commercialization.
“It won’t be on the market in a year,” Wereley says. “We are still in the research end of this. We are sort of at the stage of looking for the killer app for this technology.”
REP may be used as a tool for nanomanufacturing because it shows promise for the assembly of suspended particles, called colloids. The ability to construct objects with colloids makes it possible to create structures with particular mechanical and thermal characteristics to manufacture electronic devices and tiny mechanical parts.
Purdue researchers are pursuing the technology for pharmaceutical manufacturing, Wereley says, because a number of drugs are manufactured from solid particles suspended in liquid. The particles have to be collected and separated from the liquid. This process is now done using filters and centrifuges.
REP also might be used to diagnose the presence of viruses, as well, although it has not yet been used to separate viruses from a sample, Wereley says.
Unlike conventional tools, REP requires only tiny samples, making it potentially practical for medical diagnostics and laboratory analysis.
Mechanical engineering doctoral student Jae-Sung Kwon, working extensively with Sandeep Ravindranath, a doctoral student in agricultural and biological engineering, is lead author of the Lab on a Chip paper. Researchers from Purdue, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Bindley Bioscience Center also contributed.
Source: Purdue University