Project Description
Biosensing is an essential part of patient diagnosis, pandemic response, and disease management; however, many biosensing techniques require complex preparation and processing steps. This project will explore use of acoustic trapping of biomarker-specific microparticles in microfluidic channels – a technique termed “acoustofluidic trapping” – for simplified purification and detection of biomarkers from biological samples. In this project, you will learn to fabricate and operate acoustofluidic trapping channels. You will learn to synthesize and functionalize microparticles with antibodies, antigens, or aptamers for capture of specific biomarkers. Finally, you will 3D-print components for developing acoustofluidic devices and use microscopy for characterization of microparticles and evaluation of device performance in actual use scenarios. In addition to these lab-based skills, students will learn how to design experiments, analyze data, and create publication-quality figures.
Special Requirements
Requirements include general lab safety and a basic knowledge of chemistry.
Contact
- Charles Shields (faculty)
- Cooper Thome (graduate student)