BioparticleTrap
Our Bioparticle Trap focuses target species onto stagnation lines that are 1000 times more concentrated than the bulk solution in a matter of seconds. Amplification of a signal via concentration is of critical importance with diagnostic kits to be useful with samples that are very dilute with respect to the species of interest. The Bioparticle Trap is perfectly suited to applications that require multiple analyses of a single sample or reuse, such as remote environmental sensing or continuous monitoring of a medical condition, because the lines can be moved and then erased as soon as sample analysis is complete. In a matter of seconds, the Bioparticle Trap takes a sample with an uncertain amount of target species and turns it into a clear, quantifiable fluorescence or impendence signal.
Graduate student Diana Hou makes the micron-sized gold electrodes using photolithography.
The lines on either gold electrode are highly concentrated E. Coli.
- Signal Amplification. Particles are moved from stagnation lines on a large set of electrodes to lines on a small set of electrodes to further enhance signal strength.
- Rearrange and Reuse. The Bioparticle Trap can move and erase highly concentrated lines in a matter of seconds.
- Maximum Concentration. Early results have shown that the lines can be further condensed into a pellet that can magnify the signal by an additional order of magnitude.