Premium
Portable Smartphone‐Based Platform for Real‐Time Particle Detection in Microfluidics
Author(s) -
Salafi Thoriq,
Zeming Kerwin Kwek,
Lim Jia Wei,
Raman Rahul,
Seah Andrew Wei Ren,
Tan Mei Peng,
Zhang Yong
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced materials technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.184
H-Index - 42
ISSN - 2365-709X
DOI - 10.1002/admt.201800359
Subject(s) - microfluidics , modular design , polydimethylsiloxane , lens (geology) , microchannel , computer science , nanotechnology , materials science , optics , physics , operating system
Abstract Real‐time particle detection is an integral part of microfluidics for diagnostics. The detection method is typically performed with the use of bulky and expensive instruments including a bench‐top microscope, high‐speed camera, and fluidic pump. This limits the practical applications of microfluidics for real‐time point‐of‐care detection. Here, a portable and low‐cost smartphone microscopy platform is developed for real‐time particle detection in microfluidics based on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) lens, modular 3D printed accessory, plug‐and‐play paper pump, and a novel particle counting algorithm. The PDMS lens is developed using a new method based on the PDMS precuring and hydrophobic modification on a pillar template to allow for fabrication of various lens shapes with high reproducibility and broad range magnification ratio from 30× to 100×. The modular 3D printed smartphone accessory allows for easy imaging setup to cater for different size of microchannel and the paper pump design provides a convenient single‐step process to drive the fluid. The platform is implemented to count the moving particles in the outlet of microfluidics deterministic lateral displacement with 94% counting accuracy. This platform provides huge potential applications for real‐time point‐of‐care detection that can be integrated with various microfluidic techniques.