Two labs, one focus

A molecular diagnostic has three hard parts: get the target out of a messy sample, amplify it enough to see, and read the result. Each one normally demands its own instrument, and that instrumentation keeps tests immobile, inaccessible, and expensive.

My work at the Interdisciplinary Microsystems Group tackles the first part. A lateral filter array separates rare circulating tumor cells from blood by precision geometry rather than by centrifuge. By simulating the microflows I can predict capture efficiency, iterating the device on data rather than pushing forward blind. The London work attacks the second and third. If an exothermic salt can hold a reaction at temperature and a swelling membrane can time the transfer, the amplification step stops needing a heater and a technician.

I am interested in the version of this where all three parts fit in something disposable. My current project at UF, a sequential reagent release platform using microfluidic ball valves for multiplexed HIV, dengue, and Zika detection, is the first attempt at stitching them together.