ML 02

INTEGRATED SENSORS FOR POINT OF CARE DIAGNOSTICS

J. de Mello^a,b

^aDepartment of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2AY

^bMolecular Vision Ltd., BioIncubator Unit, Bessemer Building (RSM) Level 1, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2 BP

Microfluidic devices have shown themselves to be highly effective for laboratory-based research, where their superior analytical performance has established them as efficient tools for genetic sequencing, proteomics, and drug discovery. However to date they have not been well suited to point-of-care applications, where cost and portability are of primary concern. Although the chips themselves are cheap and small, they must generally be used in conjunction with bulky optical detectors, which are needed to identify or quantify the analytes or reagents present. Here we report the use of miniature on-chip light sources and photodetectors based on light-emitting polymers (LEPs). LEP devices have simple multilayered structures and may be fabricated directly on the microfluidic chips by sequential deposition of appropriate polymers or electrodes. The LEPs add minimal size and weight to the microfluidic chips, allowing for the creation of low cost, quantitative, integrated diagnostic devices.