Title :
An electrothermal micromixer for molecular analysis
Author :
Sin, Mandy L Y ; Gidwani, Vinay ; Gau, Vincent ; Wong, Pak Kin
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Aerosp. & Mech. Eng., Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Abstract :
Diffusion is often the rate-limiting step in microfluidic-based biochemical analysis systems. In this paper, an alternative current electrothermal mixer for molecular diagnostic is presented. The mixer consists of a concentric electrode design integrated in a microfluidic cartridge. We investigated the electrothermal flow by visualizing the trajectories of seeded particles. The velocity shows a fourth power voltage dependence and is most efficient in the range of 200-600 kHz. By optimizing the design and operating conditions, we demonstrated enhancement of DNA hybridization with a 60-fold reduction in total assay time.
Keywords :
DNA; bioMEMS; biochemistry; microfluidics; mixers (circuits); molecular biophysics; 60-fold reduction; DNA hybridization; concentric electrode design; diffusion; electrothermal flow; electrothermal micromixer; frequency 200 kHz to 400 kHz; microfluidic cartridge; microfluidic-based biochemical analysis systems; molecular analysis; Biochemical analysis; DNA; Design optimization; Electrokinetics; Electrothermal effects; Mechanical engineering; Microfluidics; Temperature; Thermal conductivity; USA Councils; biosensor; electrothermal flow; fluidic manipulation; lab-on-a-chip; micromixer;
Conference_Titel :
Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, 2009. NEMS 2009. 4th IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Shenzhen
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4629-2
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4630-8
DOI :
10.1109/NEMS.2009.5068704
