Highly Sensitive Biological Analysis Using Optical Microfluidic Sensor

Abstract

Lab-on-a-chip technology is attracting great interest because the miniaturization of reaction systems offers practical advantages over classical bench-top chemical systems. Rapid mixing of the fluids flowing through a microchannel is very important for various applications of microfluidic systems. In addition, highly sensitive on-chip detection techniques are essential for the in situ monitoring of chemical reactions because the detection volume in a channel is extremely small. Recently, a confocal surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS) technique, for the highly sensitive biological analysis in a microfluidic sensor, has been developed in our research group. Here, a highly precise quantitative measurement can be obtained if continuous flow and homogeneous mixing condition between analytes and silver nano-colloids are maintained. Recently, we also reported a new analytical method of DNA hybridization involving a PDMS microfluidic sensor using fluorescence energy transfer (FRET). This method overcomes many of the drawbacks of microarray chips, such as long hybridization times and inconvenient immobilization procedures. In this paper, our recent applications of the confocal Raman/fluorescence microscopic technology to a highly sensitive lab-on-a-chip detection will be reviewed.