Lab-on-Chip Sensor Enables Fast Detection of SNPs

A biomedical lab-on-chip sensor enables fast detection of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in DNA. Such a lab-on-chip device will offer fast, easy-to-use, cost-effective test methods that can be performed at regular times in a doctor's office or even near the patient's bed.

A miniaturized pump for on-chip generation of high pressures, a micropillar filter optimized for DNA separation achieving world-record resolution, and a SNP detector allow on-chip detection using very small sample volumes.

The entrance unit of the SNP detection system samples very small volumes of blood. It features a miniaturized high-pressure pump based on an advanced conductive polymer actuator. After optimization, the actuator generates high pressures (up to 3 MPa) at low voltage (~1.5 V). The high pressure generates a fluid flow through the next unit of the SNP detection system. The on-chip low voltage operation opens the path to autonomy and portability of the lab-on-chip device.

The DNA separation unit, a micropillar array filter, consists of many micron-scale pillars, typically 20 µm high with 1 µm - 2 µm inter-pillar distance. The pillar array is used for DNA separation based on ion-pair reversed-phase (IR-RP) liquid chromatography. Imec (Leuven, Belgium) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB; Belgium), a scientific partner of imec, optimized the pillar-based IR-RP liquid chromatography technique for DNA separation.

The other functional units of the SNP detector are a unit for DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using heaters and temperature sensors, and a SNP detection unit based on electrochemical sensors.

An SNP is a single nucleotide replacement in a DNA sequence, which can result in different reactions by people to pathogens and medicines. Detection of these SNP's is therefore becoming increasingly important as the world moves towards more personalized healthcare.

Panasonic (Osaka, Japan), core partner within imec's Human++ program, presented the critical components of the biomedical lab-on-chip sensor at the International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco (CA, USA), which took place on December 6-8, 2010.

Existing methods to detect SNP's require many sample processing steps utilizing dedicated medical tools at medical laboratories. Such tests are labor intensive, time-consuming, and expensive. In addition, relatively large blood samples are needed.

By combining advanced microelectronic fabrication processes with heterogeneous integration, imec and Panasonic aim to develop a state-of-the-art microfluidic device for SNP detection.

Related Links:
Imec
Vrije Universiteit Brussels
Panasonic