University of Notre Dame Du Lac

Zdenek Slouka

Hsueh-Chia Chang

Satyajyoti Senapati

Sunny S Shah

David B Go

Zehao Pan

Yongfan Men

Li-Jing Cheng

Steve Marczak

The invention provides an alternating current electrospray technology that can generate micron sized droplets in oil at very high throughput for emulsion or digital PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction). This technology outperforms the throughput of the current gold standard in droplet generation using flow-focusing technology by at least a factor of 100. The design is simple and can generate a billion to a trillion monodispersed droplets in about one hour. This is much faster than flow-focusing which is limited to a few million droplets per hour. The droplet size and generation rate can also be easily adjusted by changing the voltage of the AC electric field. The range of produced droplet sizes is about 1-100 microns, wherein the droplets are monodispersed in size.

AC electrosprayed droplets for digital and emulsion PCR

Disclosed are methods, compositions, and devices for an integrated, heterogeneous ion-exchange membrane-based plastic microfluidic biochip platform that can be used to detect multiple diagnostic markers present in real samples. Its various components can be easily integrated in a modular fashion for different applications. Automated control allows sequential and dynamic activation of different components on the chip. The integrated platform consists of three units and is designed to execute the following functions: (i) separation of the target biomolecules from the real sample, (ii) localizing and concentrating the targeted molecules at a specific location in the microfluidic chip, and (iii) detection of the targeted molecules using hybridization/docking events against a complementary ssDNA oligoprobe sequence or a specific antibody.

Integrated membrane sensor for rapid molecular detection

Described are methods for detecting and quantifying biomolecules such as polynucleotides or polypeptides in an electrophoresis matrix using ion concentration polarization and nanoparticle aggregation.

Ultra-sensitive multi-target lateral flow molecular assay with field-induced precipitation

A DNA/RNA detection technology is provided. The open flow detection technique includes a substrate defining a pair of opposing microchannels, a pair of opposing electrodes in the opposing microchannels, and at least one ion exchanging nanomembrane coupled between the opposing microchannels such that the opposing microchannels are connected to each other only through the nanomembrane, wherein the nanomembrane is functionalized with a probe complementary to the macromolecule. A voltammeter is provided to measure the electrical current or potential across the nanomembrane, and detect a change in the measured electrical current or potential to quantify the presence of the macromolecule.

Methods and apparatus for nanomembrane-based nucleic acid sensing platform for portable diagnostics

Disclosed are methods, compositions, and devices for an integrated, heterogenerous ion-exchange membrane-based plastic microfluidic biochip platform that can be used to detect multiple diagnostic markers present in real samples. Its various components can be easily integrated in a modular fashion for different applications. Automated control allows sequential and dynamic activation of different components on the chip. The integrated platform consists of three units and is designed to execute the following functions: (i) separation of the target biomolecules from the real sample, (ii) localizing and concentrating the targeted molecules at a specific location in the microfluidic chip, and (iii) detection of the targeted molecules using hybridization/docking events against a complementary ssDNA oligoprobe sequence or a specific antibody.

Growing community of inventors

South Bend, IN, United States of America

Zdenek Slouka