From bench-to-bedside: Realizing on-chip electrophoretic immunoassays for protein biomarkers in serum using a standard 9V battery

We report a novel electrophoretic separation method that is realizable in a 1 mm single microfluidic channel, powered by a standard 9V battery and can be used to complete a migration shift immunoassay in less than 30s. In our assay sample is continuously injected electrophoretically into a polyacrylamide sieving matrix with analyte fronts monitored to detect differentially migrating species. By removing an injection channel this technique eliminates injection dispersion and shrinks the device footprint. Resulting in high efficiency separations in short microfluidic channels with a power consumption of just 2.7 μW.