A Miniature Analytical Instrument for Nucleic Acids Based on Micromachined Silicon Reaction Chambers

Abstract

In this paper, we describe a miniature analytical thermal cycling instrument (MATCI) to amplify and detect DNA via the polymerase chain reaction in real-time. The MATCI is an integrated, miniaturized analytical system that uses silicon-based, high-efficiency reaction chambers with integrated heaters and simple, inexpensive electronics to precisely control the reaction temperatures. Optical windows in the silicon and solid-state, diode-based detection components are employed to perform real-time fluorescence monitoring of product DNA production. The entire system fits into a briefcase and runs on rechargeable batteries. The applications of this miniaturized nucleic acid analysis system include clinical, research, environmental, and agricultural analyses as well as others which require rapid, portable, and accurate analysis of biological samples for nucleic acids. This paper describes the MATCI and presents results from ultrafast thermal cycling and real-time PCR detection. Examples include human genes and pathogenic viruses and bacteria.

Integration of a flow-type chemiluminescence detector on a glass electrophoresis chip

“…It offers a new way to achieve fast analysis with high efficiency and low cost in a miniaturized setup including sample treatment, sample detection, collection processes and so on. The most noteworthy is possibly that this microtechnology has been applied to genomics [5,6], proteomics [7] and metabolomics [8].…”

Automation for Genomics, Part Two: Sequencers, Microarrays, and Future Trends

“…Wilding et al 1994;Burns et al 1996;Cheng et al 1996a,b;Northrup et al 1995Northrup et al , 1998Christel et al 1998;Kopp et al 1998). These designs include continuous-flow PCR or batch processes with total reaction times as short as 90 sec.…”

“…These designs include continuous-flow PCR or batch processes with total reaction times as short as 90 sec. The Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA) SmartCycler is a multichannel thermal cycler with silicon-based reaction chambers and integral optical de- (Christel et al 1998;Northrup et al 1998).…”

Micro Total Analysis Systems: Microfluidic Aspects, Integration Concept and Applications

“…The second reason that makes microfabricated structures promising for DNA analysis is that they allow the manipulation of fluids in the nanoliter or even picoliter range. Recently, much work has been done on the realization of micro-titerplates for DNA screening [51][52][53]. Here a combination of precise fabrication of micro-volume reactors with a clever fluidic system and micro dosing (inkjet) nozzles to charge every microreactor with the appropriate chemicals yields a highly sophisticated microanalysis system with excellent marketing prospects.…”