Model microfluidic platform prototyping : design and fabrication of a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) chip

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a molecular biology method for the in vitro amplification of nucleic acid molecules, which has wide applications in the areas of genetics, medicine and biochemistry. MEMS technology offers several advantages for the miniaturization of biological protocols like PCR, including decreased amplification time, reduced reagent consumption, disposability, target specific amplification, and functional integration. The typical three step PCR cycle consists of heating the sample to 90-95 °C to denature the double-stranded DNA complex, cooling down to 55-60 °C to anneal the specific primers to the single stranded DNA, and finally increasing the temperature to 70-75 °C for extension of the primers with thermostable DNA polymerase. The temperature sensitivity of the reaction requires precise temperature control and proper thermal isolation of the three temperature zones. In this thesis, the design of a continuous flow PCR microfluidic platform consisting of a monolithic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic chip assembled on top of a thin film patterned glass base heating unit is presented. A detailed thermo-fluidic model of the device is presented to predict the performance and efficacy of the proposed design. Numerical simulations are carried out to find the temperature distribution in the device and show the suitability of the design in meeting target temperature profile. Subsequently, simulation results are substantiated with experimental results of infrared and thermocouple temperature measurement on the device.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Kumar, Sumeet, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Todd Thorsen.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50572

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/50572