The Micro/Nano Bioelectronics and Biosensors (MBIOS) from Tianjin University
A Fluigent pressure-based flow controller, the MFCS™-EZ, is helping researchers from the Micro/Nano Bioelectronics and Biosensors (MBIOS) group, part of the Department of Precision Instrument Engineering of Tianjin University in China. Their research focuses on micro/nano fabricated devices and their applications for biosensors and chemical sensors.
”The Fluigent gas pressure pump allowed us to inject our sample solutions under constant pressure which guarantees highly accurate resistive pulse sensing measurement.”
Prof. Xuexin Duan – Tianjin University, Department of Precision Instrument Engineering
Micro-and nanofluidics for biosensor applications
Lab-On-a-Chip (LoC) devices are advantageous as they can offer a wide range of analysis tools from cells to molecules (for instance, based on mechanical, electrical, and fluorescence properties). In this context, the MBIOS group develops micro/nanofluidic-based biosensor devices. They have the advantages of high surface-to-volume ratio, high sensitivity, low sample consumption, label-free detections, low cost and, high throughput.
Cells/particles detection and characterization
In a previous work, Han et al. fabricated an electrical impedance flow cytometry device based on microfluidics with a constrictied microchannel to simultaneously characterize the mechanical and electrical properties of single plant cells1. This allowed them to analyze cell structure and content in a label-free manner. Later on, a similar resistive pulse sensing device was embedded into a much smaller nanochannel (nanochannel-RPS), which enabled label-free quantification of plasmid DNAs and exosomes with high sensitivity2. These devices are fabricated with CMOS compatible processes, which facilitate mass production while maintaining high performance for the analysis of various cells and bionanoparticles.
References
- Han, Z., Chen, L., Zhang, S., Wang, J. & Duan, X. Label-Free and Simultaneous Mechanical and Electrical Characterization of Single Plant Cells Using Microfluidic Impedance Flow Cytometry. Anal. Chem. 92, 14568–14575 (2020).
- Han, Z., Liu, J., Liu, Z., Pan, W., Yang, Y., Chen X., Gao, Y. & Duan, X. Resistive Pulse Sensing Device with Embedded Nanochannel (nanochannel-RPS) for Label-free Biomolecule and Bionanoparticle Analysis. Nanotechnology 1284443, (2021)
MBIOS group website: www.tjumbios.com
Precise flow control for biosensor applications
Our MFCS-EZ was used to continuously inject cells and bioparticles into the micro/nanofluidic device using constant pressure. Using the FASTAB™ microfluidic patented technology, the MFCS™-EZ generates a constant pressure-driven flow rate that allows for reliable and repeatable experiments.