Pathogen detection using microfluidic bead-based polymerase chain reaction

This paper presents a microfluidic device which uses bead-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify and detect genomic DNA of Bordetella Pertussis. PCR is a biochemical amplification process in which template DNA is duplicated by repeated thermal cycling and enzymatic amplification. The device uses an integrated resistive heater and temperature sensor beneath a (poly) dimethylsiloxane microfluidic chamber to control the temperature of a solution containing the template DNA and PCR reagents, including bead-based primers. The PCR reaction results in fluorescently tagged double-stranded DNA immobilized on microbeads. The combination of chemical amplification and fluorescent signal concentration on microbeads allows sensitive detection of template DNA at a concentration of 1 pM in only 10 PCR cycles within 13 minutes.