Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, USA.
Department of Electrical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, USA.
Lab Chip. 2023 Aug 22;23(17):3882-3892. doi: 10.1039/d3lc00545c.
Upstream sample preparation remains the bottleneck for point-of-need nucleic acid testing due to its complexity and time-consuming nature. Sample preparation involves extracting, purifying, and concentrating nucleic acids from various matrices. These processes are critical for ensuring the accuracy and sensitivity of downstream nucleic acid amplification and detection. However, current sample preparation methods are often laboratory-based, requiring specialized equipment, trained personnel, and several hours of processing time. As a result, sample preparation often limits the speed, portability, and cost-effectiveness of point-of-need nucleic acid testing. A universal, field-deployable sample preparation device is highly desirable for this critical need and unmet challenge. Here we reported a handheld, battery-powered, reconfigurable, and field-deployable nucleic acid sample preparation device. A programmable electromagnetic actuator was developed to drive a magnetic robot (ProMagBot) in / 2D space, such that various magnetic bead-based sample preparations can be readily translated from the laboratory to point-of-need settings. The control of the electromagnetic actuator requires only a 3-phase unipolar voltage in and directions, and therefore, the motion space is highly scalable. We validated the ProMagBot device with a model application by extracting HIV viral RNAs from plasma samples using two widely used magnetic bead kits: ChargeSwitch and MagMAX beads. In both cases, the ProMagBot could successfully extract viral RNAs from 50 μL plasma samples containing as low as 10 copies of viral RNAs in 20 minutes. Our results demonstrated the ability of ProMagBot to prepare samples from complex mediums at the point of need. We believe such a device would enable rapid and robust sample preparation in various settings, including resource-limited or remote environments, and accelerate the development of next-generation point-of-need nucleic acid testing.
由于其复杂性和耗时的性质，上游样本制备仍然是即时核酸检测的瓶颈。样本制备涉及从各种基质中提取、纯化和浓缩核酸。这些过程对于确保下游核酸扩增和检测的准确性和灵敏度至关重要。然而，目前的样本制备方法通常是基于实验室的，需要专门的设备、经过培训的人员和数小时的处理时间。因此，样本制备通常限制了即时核酸检测的速度、便携性和成本效益。对于这一关键需求和未满足的挑战，非常需要一种通用的、可现场部署的样本制备设备。在这里，我们报告了一种手持式、电池供电、可重构和可现场部署的核酸样本制备设备。开发了一种可编程电磁致动器来驱动磁性机器人（ProMagBot）在 2D 空间中运动，使得各种基于磁性珠的样本制备可以很容易地从实验室转移到即时检测环境。电磁致动器的控制只需要 和 方向的三相单极电压，因此运动空间具有高度可扩展性。我们使用两种广泛使用的磁性珠试剂盒（ChargeSwitch 和 MagMAX 珠）通过从血浆样本中提取 HIV 病毒 RNA 来验证 ProMagBot 设备的模型应用。在两种情况下，ProMagBot 都可以成功地从含有低至 10 个病毒 RNA 拷贝的 50 μL 血浆样本中提取病毒 RNA，整个过程耗时 20 分钟。我们的结果证明了 ProMagBot 从即时需要的复杂介质中制备样本的能力。我们相信，这种设备将能够在各种环境中实现快速而稳健的样本制备，包括资源有限或偏远的环境，并加速下一代即时核酸检测的发展。
