A novel microfluidic module for rapid detection of airborne and waterborne pathogens

Different microfluidic design or function modules are the key for the microfluidic chip to fullfill various functions. We herein report a simple microfilter module that conveniently integrates semiporous membranes into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates with leakage-free bonding, which achieves the efficient enrichment of airborne and waterborne pathogens on microfluidic chips. The microfilter is able to rapidly enrich and concentrate similar to 10(-1) mu m-scale particles with high efficiency due to the complementary advantages of microfluidics (microliter-scale fluid control) and the nature of polyester (or polycarbonate) membranes (high precision and density of pores, and high hydrophilicity). Fabrication can be conveniently performed by effective loading control of the sealing agent. For further studies on different pathogen concentrations and detections, the module was integrated with loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) on a PDMS chip for enrichment and visual analysis of pathogens from body fluid samples with limited volume and low concentration. It was also capable of collection and in-situ immunofluorescence detection of parasite oocysts (cysts) in drinking water with recovery rates of similar to 90%. Besides, by integration of the microfilter and a LAMP chip on a portable device, we successfully established a point-of-care system for enrichment and analysis of airborne pathogens. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.