Performance evaluation of low cost microfluidic chips made using a digital craft cutter for point of care applications in nucleic acid tests

A point of care (POC) diagnostic system development for nucleic acid testing (NAT) for developing countries faces several challenges and barriers among which affordability is a very critical one [1,4]. Hence a study was made to evaluate the effectiveness of microfluidic chips made from a digital craft cutter to be used as a disposable cartridge. Low cost materials like double sided tapes, transparent sheets and connectors were used to realize the microfluidic chip [2]. An in-house IVD sample preparation kit for nucleic acid extraction was used as a representative assay. Modifications were made to the assay workflow considering the feature sizes, design and volume of the microfluidic chip made from the paper cutter and other POC system requirements like turnaround time (TAT). The workflow was optimized by reducing overall TAT from 50min to 15min, sample volume from 150 μL to 12.5 μL and reduced reagent volumes. The method was also optimized to work at an isothermal condition. The results showed good correlation and yield in terms of both quality and quantity when compared to results obtained from the established baseline protocol. Thus microfluidic chips made using a digital craft cutter can very well be a low cost alternative to manufacture disposable chips for POC applications in nucleic acid tests.