With our virus sensor paper now published, my journey with virus diagnostics, at least for now, comes to an end. Keeping with the theme of modifying silicon surfaces for interaction with pathogens, I am now switching gears to developing models for bacterial infection. This is currently taking shape in an effort to coat our silicon…
The development of the μSiM-DX has been swift and focused, as discussed in these previous blog posts: https://trace-bmps.org/beadazzled-laying-the-foundation-of-the-%ce%bcsim-dx-fouling-based-sensor/ and https://trace-bmps.org/vindictive-virus-capture-testing-the-%ce%bcsim-dx-with-vaccinia-virus-towards-a-modular-virus-diagnostic/. To provide a greater understanding of the inner workings of the device, I have done a few calculations regarding some of its working properties related to microfluidics. The three I present here are about the relationship…
After completing proof of concept testing with polystyrene beads and with the goal of creating a SARS-CoV-2 sensor (Discussed in this post: https://trace-bmps.org/beadazzled-laying-the-foundation-of-the-%ce%bcsim-dx-fouling-based-sensor/), we sought to test the performance of the system with a target more similar to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We found this target in vaccinia virus. As we did with the polystyrene beads,…
Starting in December of 2019, we began capturing fluorescent beads on microslit silicon nanomembranes as an illustrative representation of particle capture within our microfluidic devices. From then until now we have successfully used this method within gasket made TFAC devices and uSiM ALine devices using a range of micropore sizes/shapes and bead sizes. These experiments…
In support of the bone infection studies done in the Schwarz lab at URMC, I have recently been tasked with coordinating a new collaboration with Dr. Yates lab in the Chemical Engineering department. The goal of this collaboration is to establish a method to coat our membranes with hydroxyapatite crystals. Two different methods were attempted,…
This year we were invited to submit a manuscript and presentation to the SPIE Photonics West BiOS Conference. We submitted both on the work we have done on the uSIM-DX virus sensor platform. Below I have attached the presentation which I presented. It summarizes the motivation behind our work, current testing capabilities, introduces our membranes…
Since the arrival of ALine devices on the diagnostic scene during the SARS-CoV-2 sensor project, much of my effort has been focused on getting them to work properly with biological targets. With plenty of data showing successful operation of these devices with beads and several failures with SARs-CoV-2 surrogate particles, we have switched our focus…
Fluorescent Streptavidin Coated Bead Capture on Biotin KODE Coated Surfaces After determining that KODE molecules can successfully coat our silicon pore membranes, we set out to determine if the coating could be functional and how stable it was. To test both factors concurrently we designed experiments in an attempt to capture 1.24 um diameter fluorescent…
Since precision printing FITC KODE molecules into the windows of our 3 slot chips I have begun testing both the uniformity and the functionality of surface coatings of these molecules. In pursuit of coating uniformity I have tested several different methods of surface coating to determine which method provides the greatest uniformity. In this same…
Carrying our membrane functionalization work forward we attempted to work in both the polymer chemistry space and the KODE nonspecific binding space. With the results shown below the KODE molecule pathway has shown much more promise than the polymer chemistry pathway. This, for the moment, has provided the conclusions that fuel the title of this…