Jung-Tang Huang, PhD | National Taipei University of Technology; Jakkrapatr O.Baiyokvichit, MS
Competition Sponsor: Academia Sinica
Awardee Year: 2023
This project is a lab-on-a-chip (LOC) for detecting cardiovascular disease. It is going to change the CVD biomarkers measurement from a time-consuming technique into a practically simple screen test regarding point of care testing (POCT).
This LOC will detect different biomarkers, including Cardiac Troponin I (cTnI), Creatine Kinase Myocardial Band (CK-MB), and Cardiac Natriuretic Peptides (NPs), through the different aptamer and redox probes which enable it to detect each biomarker simultaneously.
The chip in the LOC platform will be made of a reliable silicon base chip with gold electrodes. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) will be used to create the microfluidic channels and microfluidic vacuum pump for filtering and preparing the blood sample. Furthermore, gold nanoparticles will be deposited into the magnetic beads before they are conjugated with the aptamer. This will result in a stronger link between the aptamer and magnetic beads.
A change in conformation of the aptamer, after it is bonded to the target, results in a variation in the conductivity and distance between the redox probe on an aptamer and the electrode surface. The conversion of the chemical reaction from the redox probe into an electrical signal will be measured from the reader circuit and sent to the user’s smartphone.
The entire procedure will take no more than 10 minutes, and this LOC is anticipated to cost no more than 100 NT$ to make it affordable and feasible for anyone with the risk of CVD.