The Lab-on-PCB framework for affordable, electronic-based point-of-care diagnostics: From design to manufacturing

2017 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS)

Evans

et al. 2017

This paper details the design and fabrication of a portable, smartphone-integrated electronic platform, tailored to read-out electronic ELISA (eELISA) data from printed circuit board (PCB)-based sensors. The instrument features eight independent, re-configurable current input channels, each consisting of a low-noise transimpedance amplifier (TIA) and filtering stage coupled to low-noise switch ICs for automatic current range detection. A bipolar 16-bit resolution voltage-input analog-todigital converter (ADC) has been employed for digitisation of converted current values received from the analogue front-end. In addition, a bipolar, 12-bit resolution digital-to-analog converter (DAC) combined with standard three-electrode potentiostats provides wide range biasing voltages to the amperometric sensors. The resulting digital data is transmitted via serial interface to an Android-based smartphone, where an ergonomic user interface guides the operator through the detection process. The customised Android application (App) provides real-time monitoring of the electrochemical cell and stores returned biochemical data on the device once measurement is complete.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a smartphone-aided electronic ELISA for real-time electrochemical monitoring

Pechlivanidis

2017 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS)

Evans

et al. 2017

“…More recently micromixers [17], nucleic acid amplification chips [18] and chemical sensors [19] have been demonstrated. Electrochemical biosensing on PCB requires gold (Au) or silver (Ag) plated sensing pads integrated with microfluidic networks for reagent manipulation and sample preparation on the same platform [20,21]. The interested reader can find a thorough demonstration of the potentials of LoPCB technology here [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel modular pressure and flow rate balanced microfluidic serial dilution networks on printed circuit boards: Designs, Simulations and Fabrication

Vasilakis

Morgan

et al. 2018

Preprint

Fast, efficient and more importantly accurate serial dilution is a requirement for many chemical and biological microfluidic-based applications. Over the last decade, a large number of microfluidic devices has been proposed, each demonstrating either a different type of dilution technique or complex system architectures based on various flow source combinations. In this work, a novel serial dilution architecture is demonstrated, implemented on a commercially fabricated printed circuit board (PCB). The proposed single layer, stepwise serial diluter comprises an optimised microfluidic network, where identical dilution ratio per stage can be ensured, either by applying equal pressure or equal flow rates at both inlets. The advantages of the proposed serial diluter are twofold. Firstly, it is structured as a modular unit cell, simplifying the required fluid driving mechanism to a single source for both sample and buffer solution. Thus, this unit cell can be seen as a fundamental microfluidic building block, which can form multistage serial dilution cascades, once combined appropriately with itself or other similar unit cells. Secondly, the serial diluter has been fabricated entirely using commercial PCB technologies, allowing the device to be interfaced with standard electronic components, if more complex miniature point-of-care (PoC) systems are desired, where the small footprint and accuracy of the device is of paramount importance.

“…A significant number of approaches to a large variety of disease diagnostics have been attempted at PoC, exploiting different techniques and materials. The lab-on-a-PCB (LoPCB) approach is an alternative electrochemical detection method, using amperometric sensors and microfluidics produced by standard PCB manufacturing processes [2]- [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A dual switched-capacitor integrator architecture for versatile, real-time amperometric biosensing

Pligouroudis

2017 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS)

Evans

et al. 2017

In this paper, a versatile, re-programmable, current-input bioinstrumentation board is presented for electrochemical amperometric measurements. The proposed instrument has been fabricated on a six layer printed circuit board (PCB) and exploits dual switched-capacitor (SC) integration and sampleand-hold (SH) techniques. It comprises off-the-shelf switch and amplifier ICs and a commercially available FPGA-based DSP unit for digital signal control and synchronisation. It features eight amperometric channels, has a dynamic current range of 100dB, can be powered-up by a USB port or a 5V battery and is portable, with dimensions of 110×110 mm 2. An onboard digital-to-analog converter (DAC) combined with standard three-electrode potentiostats can provide precise, programmable biasing voltages to eight amperometric biosensors simultaneously. Validation of the robustness and accuracy of the proposed system is demonstrated by proof-of-concept amperometric measurements using a high-precision Keithley 6221 current source and NaCl solution on a PCB-based sensor.