智能化数字微流控免疫检测芯片平台构建及其初步应用研究

Immunoassay is one of the key measures clinically with major applications such as diagnosis, screening and drug analysis. With the development of point-of-care, community clinics and tele-diagnosis, there are more and more new calls for a desirable scaled-down, highly precise, highly reliable, less maintenance and labor-free immunoassay platform. On a typical digital microfluidic (DMF) chip, discrete droplets play a role as functional carrier for fluid transportation and processing (such as dilution, mixing, extraction and reaction). DMF technology exhibits characteristics such as short duration of assay and interaction, low assumption of reagents, low-level involvement of peripheral equipments and an easy-to-be-simplified system, therefore it is suitable technical platform for next-generation immune assay. In this project, DMF technique will be adopted to investigate the actuation hydrodynamic characteristics of typical reagents in a form of solution, such as PBS, PBST, BSA and serum, under electrowetting; also, the droplet actuation behavior will be studied on surfaces addressed by antigens or carbon nanotubes. Additionally, coupled with an expert controller system we are developing, these characteristics will be ultilized to develop an easy-to-carry, low-cost, high-sensitivity and robust intelligently and autonomously operated immune assay platform. Reliability and feasibility of this platform will be tested with preliminary application in HCV antibody screening.

免疫检测是目前临床检测中最重要的手段之一，主要应用于疾病诊断、病原体筛查、药物检测等方面。随着床边检测、社区医院、远程诊断等医疗模式的出现，对小型化、高精度、高可靠性、维护少、对技术人员依赖低的免疫检测平台提出了新的需求。数字微流控芯片中以离散的液滴作为流体输运和处理（如稀释、混合、萃取和反应等）的功能载体，检测反应时间短，试剂消耗量低，对外围设备依赖小，易于实现系统简化，是发展新一代免疫检测技术的良好技术平台。本项目拟利用数字微流控芯片技术，考察PBS、PBST、BSA、血清等免疫学检测常用溶液的在电润湿条件下的驱动动力学特征；同时也考察经抗原修饰或碳纳米管包被的芯片表面对液滴驱动性能的影响。进一步将这些特征与智能化专家系统结合，开发具有开发轻便、低成本、高灵敏度的、可靠的智能化自动免疫检测平台，并将其初步应用于HCV抗体筛查，验证其可靠性与可行性。

随着床边检测、社区医院、远程诊断等医疗模式的出现，对小型化、高精度、高可靠性、维护少、对技术人员依赖低的检测平台提出了新的需求。数字微流控芯片中以离散的液滴作为流体输运和处理（如稀释、混合、萃取和反应等）的功能载体，检测反应时间短，试剂消耗量低，对外围设备依赖小，易于实现系统简化，是发展新一代免疫检测技术的良好技术平台。本项目对数字微流控芯片技术应用的关键环节，如绝缘层的制备方法，芯片组装方法，控制反馈, 检测装置等进行了研究，提出了解决方案。本项目还对不同溶液在电润湿条件下的驱动动力学特征进行了研究。 本项目发展了基于荧光检测的芯片信号检测装置，并进一步将上述特征与智能化专家系统结合，开发了具有轻便、低成本、高灵敏度的自动通用检测平台。并将其初步应用于病原体的检测，验证了其可靠性与可行性。