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Picoliter droplet microfluidic immunosorbent platform for point-of-care diagnostics of tetanus

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Abstract

We have developed a sensitive, specific, rapid and low cost picoliter microsphere-based platform for bioanalyte detection and quantification. In this method, a biological sample, biosensing microspheres, and fluorescently labeled detection (secondary) antibodies are co-encapsulated to capture the analyte (here: human anti-tetanus immunoglobulin G) on the surface of the microsphere in microfluidic pL-sized droplets. The absorption of the analyte and detecting antibodies on the microsphere concentrate the fluorescent signal in correlation with analyte concentration. Using our platform and commercially available antibodies, we were able to quantify anti-tetanus antibodies in human serum. In comparison to standard bulk immunosorbent assays, the microfluidic droplet platform presented here reduces the reagent volume by four orders of magnitude, while fast reagent mixing reduces the detection time from hours to minutes. We consider this platform to be a major leap forward in the miniaturization of immunosorbent assays and to provide a rapid and low cost tool for global point-of-care.

We have developed a sensitive, specific, rapid and low cost pico-liter microsphere based platform for detection and quantification of human anti-tetanus immunoglobulin G. In this method, a biological sample, biosensing microspheres, and fluorescently labeled detection antibodies are co-encapsulated to capture the analyte on the surface of the microsphere in microfluidic pL-sized droplets. Using our platform and commercially available antibodies, we quantified the anti-tetanus antibodies content in human serum.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the ECOR postdoctoral award to AG and Shriners Grant #85120-BOS. We are also thankful to Dr. Jon F. Edd for the help in design of the array.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Shriners Burns Institute, 55 Blossom St, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Alexander Golberg, Martin L. Yarmush & Tania Konry

Authors
  1. Alexander Golberg
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  2. Martin L. Yarmush
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  3. Tania Konry
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Correspondence to Tania Konry.

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Golberg, A., Yarmush, M.L. & Konry, T. Picoliter droplet microfluidic immunosorbent platform for point-of-care diagnostics of tetanus. Microchim Acta 180, 855–860 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-013-0998-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-013-0998-3

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