Laminates for miniaturized integrated bioelectronic protein analysis systems

We report the use of microelectronic laminate-based manufacturing to produce integrated devices capable of performing both electronic and biological analysis, particularly for protein assays. There is currently a significant push to develop miniaturized biofluidic devices for portable, point-of-care medical applications. Such “lab-on-a-chip” devices are typically built using lithographic and stamping processes borrowed from semiconductor and other industries. However, these devices suffer from severe lack of integration, especially with electronic components. Electronic wiring and electrical components are typically added post-facto, usually off the device, in a clumsy non-integrated way. In this research, we have developed an innovative packaging approach to system miniaturization which incorporates fluidic, electronics, and mechanical components into a laminate-based device. The use of lamination allows one to readily integrate many different types of technologies and materials into a single device, making the production of a truly integrated unit. Furthermore, this approach, which borrows heavily from the printed circuit board and microelectronics packaging industry, has great potential for large scale, low cost manufacturing. Our demonstration system reproduces protein separation in a hybrid fluidic-gel-electronic circuit board. The assay (SDS-PAGE), which is built into a single laminate structure, allows one to do an important and sensitive protein analysis using only a small quantity of protein. The device consists of printed circuit board layers laminated against fluidic and acrylamide gel layers to produce a single hybrid device. Since the electrical traces and components are on-board, the device can be plugged into a power or data connector without the need for extra wiring and interconnects to drive the device. We describe the manufacturing of this device and demonstrate the ability to perform protein separation using this device. We also discuss some of the issues associated with integrating highly dissimilar laminates together for the purpose of building a true “lab-on-a-board”.