Integrated microfluidic system for electrochemical sensing of urinary proteins

This study reports a new microfluidic system integrated with a microfluidic control module and a micro electrochemical module for detection of urinary proteins. The integrated microsystem can automatically detect proteins in urine with a high sensitivity. The microfluidic control module consists of a new two-way, spiral-shape micropump which can transport the urine samples to the sensing regions. The net ionic charges of the protein samples can be detected while the samples flow through the sensing region of the micro electrochemical module. Two major urinary proteins including lysozyme and albumin are detected in a multiple-channel layout with little human intervention and are analyzed in a short period of time, while only consuming a 100-μl urine sample. The developed microfluidic system could lead to a convenient, yet crucial, platform for chemical and biological detection and diagnosis. Preliminary results of the current paper had been presented at the 1st Annual IEEE International Conference on Nano/Molecular Medicine and Engineering, August 6–9, 2007.