McDevitt, John T.2013-03-082013-03-082012Du, Nan. "A disposable bio-nano-chip usuing agarose beads for protein analysis." (2012) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/70232">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/70232</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/70232This thesis reports on the fabrication of a disposable bio-nano-chip (BNC), a microfluidic device composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and thiolene-based optical epoxy which is both cost-effective and suitable for high performance immunoassays. A novel room temperature (RT) bonding technique was utilized so as to achieve irreversible covalent bonding between PDMS and thiolene-based epoxy layers, while at the same time being compatible with the insertion of agarose bead sensors, selectively arranged in an array of pyramidal microcavities replicated in the thiolene thin film layer. In the sealed device, the bead-supporting epoxy film is sandwiched between two PDMS layers comprising of fluidic injection and drain channels. The agarose bead sensors used in the device are sensitized with anti-C-reactive protein (CRP) antibody, and a fluorescent sandwich-type immunoassay was run to characterize the performance of this device. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used based on the device specifications to model the bead penetration. Experimental data revealed analyte penetration of the immunocomplex to 100μm into the 280μm diameter agarose beads, which correlated well with the simulation. A dose response curve was obtained and the linear dynamic range of the assay was established over 1ng/mL to 50ng/mL with a limit of detection less than 1ng/mL.36 p.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Applied sciencesBiological sciencesBiomedical engineeringBiophysicsThesisDuNTHESIS PHYS. 2012 DU