Abstract

Miniaturized lab-on-a-chips and micro Total Analysis Systems (μTAS) have already penetrated the area of molecular diagnostics and brought the promise of a shift of paradigm in the way that medical professions will be conducted. Large spectrum of applications have been reported in the area of diagnosis and prognostics, regarding both qualitative and quantitative identification of targeted bio-entities. The advance of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and microfluidic technologies opened a major challenge for a large number of researchers, industrial health and bio companies to invest their time and budget into the avenue of Point of Care (POC) health instruments or devices that help in the early detection of cancer cells within the human blood, via circulating malignant cells.
A large project that addresses the design of a point of care (POC) prototype in the area of bio-MEMS is presently ongoing in our laboratories. This device will enable the early detection of specific malignant species from a blood sample and integrates subprojects regarding the separation of malignant species from the blood sample, the characterization of these particles and the precise identification of the detected species. The detection method is based on the interaction between a microstructure, in this case a cantilever beam, and the reacting large organic molecules.
The aim of the present work is the detection part and represents the effort of the candidate to confirm theoretically and experimentally a series of pre-existing experimental results performed within the research group. The detection experiments take in consideration both the specific deflection obtained by means of direct measuring and the optical variation of the capillary angle during the interaction at micro-level between a pair antibody-antigen. The option of performing the assessment on an in-plane configuration rather than the out-of-plane method is also taken in consideration.
The results of this work can help benefiting both care-givers and patients if implemented in a clinical diagnostic device, contributing to an early detection of a malignant condition and the follow-up during the specialized treatment, implicitly reduced costs and improved quality of life.