Spring 2014 IAB & Research Review
March 5 - 6
Microfluidic Blood Plasma Separation for Point-of-Care Diagnostics
Microfluidic lab-on-a-chip (LOC) device for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics have been widely developed for the rapid detection of infectious diseases such as HIV, TB and Malaria. Blood plasma separation is an initial step for most blood-based diagnostics. Although, centrifuge method is the classical bench-top technique, it is time and labor intensive, and therefore, automation and integration of blood plasma separation in the LOC device is ideal for POC diagnostics. Here, we propose a novel microfluidic blood plasma separation device for POC diagnostics to avoid biochemical interference by hemolysis of red blood cells. This investigation will hopefully lead to a simple and reliable blood plasma separation device that can be utilized by individuals with minimal training in resource-limited environments for POC diagnostics.