R&D Projects | Polymers and Coatings | ELFSE | 2D-CE

2D-CE for Protein Analysis:

Lab-on-a-Chip

In addition to simple capillary tubes, similar separations can be performed in a "lab-on-a-chip" device about the size of a microscope slide that contains microfluidic channels that are similar in function to capillary tubing.

Lab-on-a-chip devices allow multiple separations and complex sample preparations to be performed on microscopic size samples.

Separation lengths are typically a few centimeters, compared to tens of centimeters for a typical capillary length, allowing separations to be performed faster. 

The company is developing a two-stage electrophoretic separation of proteins in biomedical samples such as serum to allow identification and quantitative analysis of individual proteins as biomarkers. This method is the microfluidic chip analog of 2D gel electrophoresis but with separation time of only one hour with full automation.

The chips are fabricated using photo-lithography in a clean room that is part of the Penn State Materials Research Institute, as shown.

The microfluidic chip is in its "holder" that connects the microscopic channels to "macroscopic" fluidic controls, including valves and syringes. An inverted microscope and scanning laser are below the holder to observe fluid movement in the microscopic channels.

R&D Projects | Polymers and Coatings | ELFSE | 2D-CE