Abstract

Microfluidic Immunosensor Systems: Next Generation Biodiagnostics Tools

C Raman Suri, Head, CSIR- IMTECH

Bioreceptors functionalized nanostructures in microfluidic devices possess many advantages like high throughput, short analysis time, small volume and high sensitivity that fulfill all the important criteria of an immunoassay used for clinical diagnoses, environmental analyses and biochemical studies. Microfluidic devices are commonly fabricated in glass, silicon, and polymers, with polymers seeing greater attention in recent years. Various microfluidic designs have been reported for immunoassay applications. Methods have been developed to immobilize bioreceptors (antibodies, aptamers or peptides) for selective and sensitive detection of target analytes with minimum non-specific adsorption through surface modification. The most commonly employed detection strategies method are fluorescence and electrochemical detection. The observed trends in microfluidic immunoassay applications closely resemble the trends of general immunoassays, where large molecules are detected principally through a sandwich procedure, while competitive assays are used to detect smaller molecules. The following future trends are suggested: more sensitive detection, increased integration and miniaturization, multianalyte analysis, more robust reagents and devices, and increased functionality of surface treatments.