Paper Microfluidic System for Bio-Sensing

Abstract

Pathogens are considered a transcendent threat that compromises the living organisms, owing to the diseases caused by pathogenic infection. In order to confront this threat, researchers have been developing multiple techniques for pathogenic disease detection. Most of the detection methods, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) depend extensively on plastic materials as heating reservoir and sample collectors, which increased the number of medical plastic wastes in the environment, especially after the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Additionally, most of the innovated detection techniques require expensive equipment, specialized facilities, and trained personnel to proceed with the sample. Therefore, this research thesis presents a novel biodegradable, easily handled graphene oxide-based paper device, that is used to detect pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, through a simple setup, in which graphene oxide is integrated within the structure of standard printing paper, then chemically reduced in order to be used as heating elements. Biodegradable Polylactic acid (PLA) biopolymer is utilized as a biocompatible platform for containing biological samples. Several setup configurations and additives such as phase change materials were experimented, however, PLA was the better option. Within the RT-LAMP testing method, the samples are to be heated with the passage of an electric current through the paper, taking advantage of the Joule Heating effect.

Date of Award	Aug 2023
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Anas Alazzam (Supervisor)