ITR: Collaborative Research: Reconfigurable Architectures for Bio-Molecular Detection: Modeling, Experimentation, and Optimization

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY

Investigators

Abstract

Project Title: Principal Investigator (Duke University): Krishnendu Chakrabarty Co-Principal Investigator (Duke University): Richard B. Fair Principal Investigator (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute): Julie Stenken Abstract: The scope of this project includes the high-level modeling of biosensors and detectors, laboratory experiments on bio-molecular detection, and optimization techniques for system design. An optimized, system-level architecture is being incorporated into a chip design that will demonstrate a bio-chemical assay sequence to identify a specific target. Research is focused on high-speed fluidic and molecular transport of a variety of biological and chemical substances by surface-tension actuation in the form of micro-droplets, as well as subsequent detection of these substances through array or decision-tree architectures. A series of simple tests are being devised to rapidly narrow the set of possible bio-chemical agents. Techniques are being developed to map these tests and the associated control/decision mechanism on a droplet-based microfluidic architecture. The project is planned as a collaborative, multi-disciplinary effort involving Duke University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Researchers at Duke University are investigating modeling, optimization, and microfludics-based on-chip bio-chemical assays. Researchers at Rensselaer are studying enzymatic assays and assay chemistry for a limited set of target analytes. The outcome of the proposed research is expected to be a set of reconfigurable, droplet-based biomolecular detection microsystem architectures with bio-molecular detection sites and a collection of detection criteria allowing a decision flow path to be programmed into the system by a set of decision rules. Advances in system design will lead to the availability of inexpensive microsystems that offer an early warning capability to combatants and citizens alike, before they take their next breath. The proposed research can also contribute to heath care, e.g., through field clinics that can provide rapid detection and identification of harmful pathogens. Finally, this project serves as an important bridge between three different research communities: microfluidics, circuit design, and analytical chemistry, and it fosters interdisciplinary research and collaboration.