Abstract

Near-Patient, Automated Platform for Rapid Microfluidic Extraction of Circulating Nucleic Acids from Milliliter Volumes of Whole Blood

Maiwenn Kersaudy-Kerhoas, Professor, Heriot Watt University

Extracellular plasma circulating cell-free nucleic acids (CNAs) are promising clinical biomarkers but their measurement remains time-consuming, technically challenging and expensive. For CNAs to have an impact on healthcare, a key challenge to overcome is the development of rapid and reliable low-cost sample preparation. There is an acknowledged issue around CNAs stability in the presence of hemolysis, and few solutions for fast and robust extraction at the site of blood draw. We demonstrate a microfluidic system able to perform the extraction of circulating miRNAs from several milliliters of whole blood in a single disposable fluidic cartridge, on a fully automated platform, delivering a stable elution of CNAs in less than 45 minutes. The biological characterization of the eluates include qPCR, fluorometric and spectrophotometric analysis, and automated electrophoresis for fragment analysis. This platform enables the standardization of sample preparation at the point of blood draw and in resource limited settings and could aid the introduction of CNAs-based assays into routine clinical practice.