Slipdisc : A versatile sample preparation platform for point of care diagnostics

• We report a microfluidic sample preparation platform called "Slipdisc" based on slipchip technology. Slipdisc is a rotational slipchip that uses a unique hand-wound clockwork mechanism for precise movement of specially fabricated polycarbonate discs. In operation, the microchannels and microchambers carved on the closely aligned microfluidic discs convert from continuous filled paths to defined compartments using the slip movement. The clockwork mechanism introduced here is characterised by a food dye experiment and a conventional HRP TMB reaction before measuring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme levels, which is a crucial biomarker for neonatal diagnostics. The colorimetry based detection of LDH was performed with an unmodified camera and an image analysis procedure based on normalising images and observing changes in red channel intensity. The analysis showed a close to unity coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.96) in detecting the LDH concentration when compared with a standard Chemical Analyser, demonstrating the excellent performance of the slipdisc platform with colorimetric detection. The versatile point of care sample preparation platform should ideally be suited for a multitude of applications at resource-limited settings.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Analytisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Analytical Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Chemical analysis

Chemical detection

Clocks

Colorimetric analysis

Colorimetry

Coefficient of determination

Colorimetric detection

Lactate dehydrogenase

Micro-chambers

Point of care

Point of care diagnostic

Red channels

Sample preparation

Microfluidics

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)