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Wicking microfluidic approach to separate blood plasma from whole blood to facilitate downstream assays

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Abstract

Separation of blood plasma or serum from blood is essential for accurate analysis. Conventional blood separation requires instrumentation, reagents, and large sample volumes, limiting this process to laboratory environments with trained personnel. Full implementation of effective blood separation and analysis on microliter sample volumes for point of care (POC) diagnostics has proven extremely challenging resulting in a growing market demand, with common challenges such as expensive device fabrication processes or devices being comprised of materials which are not easily disposable. We developed a membrane-based wicking microfluidic device which is made using a simple fabrication process. This device uses a unique 3D flow channel geometry, fabricated in a polycaprolactone-filled glass microfiber membrane, to efficiently separate microliter sample volumes of blood. Colorimetric assay chemistries were integrated to demonstrate utility of these devices in POC diagnostics. The devices are capable of separating both fresh and anticoagulant-treated blood at microscale sample volumes (<15.0 μL). Modifications to the base device are also reported herein which increased sample volume capacity and separation efficiency. Integrated colorimetric assay enabled semi-quantitative detection of conjugated bilirubin in real blood samples (1.0–1.5 mg/dL). These blood separation devices, fabricated on polycaprolactone-filled glass microfiber, enabled effective blood plasma (anticoagulant-treated blood) and serum (fresh blood) separation with microscale sample volumes. Sample volume capacity and separation efficiency are customizable for specific applications and devices can be integrated with downstream assay chemistries to develop complete POC devices that offer blood separation and diagnostics at the same time on a single membrane.

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Abbreviations

EDTA-Na2 :

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt dehydrate

GMF:

Glass microfiber

HCl:

Hydrochloric acid

H2SO4 :

Sulfuric acid

NEED:

N-(1-Naphthyl) ethylenediamine dihydrochloride

ORE:

Oxygen radical exposure

PBS:

Phosphate-buffered saline

PCL:

Polycaprolactone

POC:

Point of care

SEM:

Scanning electron microscope

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Christopher A. Heist and Breeanna Zirkle for their assistance with assay chemistry optimization, and Rylie Grace Tiffin for her assistance with device fabrication. We also thank Perstorp (Warrington, UK) for donating us PCL samples.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Shay Bracha

    Present address: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, 4474 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Oregon State University, 153 Gilbert Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Gayan C. Bandara, Linus J. Unitan, Owen T. Shellhammer & Vincent T. Remcho

  2. Materials Science Program, College of Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Matthew H. Kremer & Vincent T. Remcho

  3. Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Shay Bracha

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Contributions

Gayan C. Bandara: conceptualization, investigation, methodology, data collection, data curation, writing, editing. Linus J. Unitan: Investigation, data collection, data curation, methodology, writing, editing. Matthew H. Kremer: investigation, methodology, SEM imaging, writing, editing. Owen T. Shellhammer: investigation, data collection. Shay Bracha: supervision, blood sample collection, methodology. Vincent T. Remcho: conceptualization, methodology, supervision, writing, editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vincent T. Remcho.

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Animal welfare

All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Canine blood samples used in this work were obtained from excess left over after routine diagnostic procedures. As this blood was not collected specifically for this study, this work was exempted from IACUC approval.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Bandara, G.C., Unitan, L.J., Kremer, M.H. et al. Wicking microfluidic approach to separate blood plasma from whole blood to facilitate downstream assays. Anal Bioanal Chem 413, 4511–4520 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-021-03420-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-021-03420-6

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