Nanoliter Lab-on-a-Chip for Blood Diagnostics

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Latrogenic blood loss or "bleeding into the laboratory" is an important reason for administration of small volume transfusions in very low birth weight premature 6infants. A direct correlation was found between the volume of blood drawn for diagnostics and subsequent volume transfused. In neonatal infants, there may not be enough collected blood sample to perform all the necessary tests. Conventional laboratory analysis of blood samples while in the field (accidents, disasters, battlefield, etc.) is impractical. A handheld, automated, inexpensive, multi-analyte and multiplexed blood chemistry analyzer will help reduce the blood analysis volume from milliliters to nanoliters, reduce the need for further transfusions, and make the analyzer available at the point-of-care (clinics, operating & emergency rooms, intensive care units, and in the field). In Phase I, we have successfully demonstrated a digital microfluidic platform for manipulation of nanoliter-sized droplets of reagents and sample for dispensing from on-chip reservoirs, high speed transport, mixing, splitting and dilution, and colorimetric measurement of glucose, lactate, and creatinine. In phase II, a disposable lab-on-a-chip for blood chemistry will be developed where 0.5 microliters of human blood will be the input to the digital microfluidic system and it outputs the measurements of metabolites, proteins, electrolytes, gases, hematocrit, and enzymes in a completely automated fashion.