Non-Centrifugal Microfluidic Nucleic Acid Testing on Lab-on-a-Disc

Most lab-on-a-disc platforms use centrifugal force to pump liquids. In this work, we demonstrated a novel energy efficient non-centrifugal lab-on-a-disc nucleic acid testing device in which no liquid motion is involved. Streamlined DNA extraction, amplification, and real-time detection on a single microfluidic reagent disc are achieved by actuating the DNA-carrying magnetic beads against stationary reagent droplets. Using malaria spiked whole blood as a testing model, we demonstrated an excellent detection limit of 0.5 parasites/μl, sufficient for detecting asymptomatic malaria parasite carriers.