Portable, 20-minute RNA Detection

The research team set out to overcome these obstacles by developing a device that enables fast, easy-to-use point-of-care (POC) diagnosis from only a very small sample. In earlier research, the team developed a device in the form of a microchip which uses polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a silicone compound known for its air absorption properties, to pull reagents into a capture probe for analysis. This pumping technique simplified design by eliminating the need for external power sources, but the device required a quantity of sample too large for practical applications.

[caption id="attachment_1206" align="aligncenter" width="648"] New power-free RNA detection microchip. Left: Fabricated microchip. Right: Microchannel design.[Image Source : Medgadget][/caption]The new device also uses PDMS as an air pump, but drastically improves the method's sensitivity through a signal amplification method called laminar flow-assisted dendritic amplification (LFDA). First, DNA fragments which bond to specific miRNA sequences are fixed to a glass surface along with the miRNA sample to be analyzed, and then sandwiched under a layer of PDMS with channels in it (Figure 1). Emptied of air in a vacuum, the PDMS layer induces a pump effect which pulls amplification reagents, inserted at the channel inlets, into the channels and into contact with the miRNA, creating fluorescence-labeled dendritic structures that grow over time and can be quickly detected.

The sensitivity of this technique drastically reduces the sample quantity required for diagnosis to only 0.25 attomoles (10-18 mole), a thousand-fold improvement over the team's earlier model. Together with its detection time of only 20 minutes, these properties make the self-powered device ideal for use in resource-poor environments, promising portable point-of-care diagnosis for millions in developing countries and around the world.