Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Development of Microfluidic Assays and Flow Control Tools on Porous Materials: Towards a Wound-Health Monitoring Device

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/bv73c698q

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  • Remote health monitoring tools have significant potential to revolutionize the current healthcare paradigm. Such tools could improve efficiencies in healthcare by alerting patients and doctors to abnormal health conditions in real time, shortening the time to diagnose and treat ailments. To meet these needs, we pursue the development of fabric-based chemical sensors for applications as wearable health-monitoring devices. The porous structure of fabric enables it to transport fluid without the need for external pumps in addition to being inexpensive and well-suited for wearable applications. Building chemical sensors on fabric requires compatible flow-control tools to mimic the pipetting, mixing, dilution, and incubations that are performed in the clinic. Here, we develop flow control tools suitable for spatial and temporal control in fabric devices. We characterize a wax-patterning methodology suitable for fabrics and extend its development to create a flow-control valve in fabric using a stencil-printed integrated heater. The utility of these tools are demonstrated in the context of electrochemical detection of glucose in simulated samples on fabric devices. Towards the development of wearable chemical sensors applied to real-world problems, we focus efforts of measuring C-reactive protein, an inflammation biomarker used to evaluate wound health. We develop a nitrocellulose-based lateral flow immunoassay for canine C-reactive protein (cCRP) as a model patient. The assay is characterized and demonstrated good agreement with gold-standard methodologies for detection of cCRP from blood samples. Further, we validated the device using wound exudate samples harvested from the bandages of canine patients receiving treatment for three unique conditions. Analysis demonstrates good agreement with serum concentrations and could be employed as a novel approach to evaluating wound health in canines. Finally, we translate the assay chemistry to fabric and characterize performance using colorimetric and electrochemical detection modalities. We demonstrate strategies to minimize non-specific adsorption of proteins, an inherent challenge when working with protein-rich samples, by evaluating surface blocking and assay operation protocols to maximize assay performance. The feasibility of the electrochemical assay is demonstrated on fabric using an abbreviated version of the full detection stack. In summary, advancements made in fluid handling on fabric and the development of assay chemistries suitable for electrochemical detection of cCRP represent major progress towards the development of a wearable wound health monitoring device.
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  • NIH Grant #R01EB028104
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