MICROFLUIDIC PLATFORM FOR HIGH-DENSITY MULTIPLEXED BIOLOGICAL ASSAYS



Todd Thorsen
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Advances in genomic and proteomic research have generated a strong need to reduce the costs and increase the capabilities of hybridization assays that identify and quantify genetic or protein targets in biological systems.

Current miniaturized assay systems on the market include microarrays and high-density multiplexed assays. Limitations of the former include poor accuracy, high cost, and single-sample use. The latter can only test for between 10 and 100 targets in a sample.

The platform proposed here uses microfluidic channel networks to carry out thousands of biological assays in parallel on a glass slide, This would solve the major problems faced by competitors and capture a share of their $1.5 billion market, which is projected to grow 50% over the next five years.