Quantitative Profiling

Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology is an important and rapidly developing research field focused on improving experimentation and analysis in the life sciences through miniaturization of full analytical systems into (monolithic) chip substrates. Since its emergence in the 1970s, the field has matured, gaining tremendous momentum in the last two decades. Miniaturization and integration of analytical processes on a chip can offer enormous advantages over existing technologies and can create a range of novel opportunities in the life sciences.

Extraction of peak areas and mass spectral information from chromatography mass spectral data such as obtained in metabolomics measurements requires much effort and the quality is often subjective to the operator that handles the data at hand. In multiple file deconvolution, all samples are processed simultaneously and alignment issues are part of the modeling strategy. However, processing the total data set as a whole is an impossible task and therefore the data processing task requires segmentation. Two intertwined divide and conquer strategies are proposed.

A novel method is described for preparing single walled carbon nanotube (SWNT)−streptavidin complexes via the biotin−streptavidin recognition. The complex shows stability in 18 days, strong biotin recognition capability, and excellent loading capacity (about 1 streptavidin tetramer per 20 nm of SWNT). Capturing biotinylated DNA, fluorophores, and Au nanoparticles (NPs) on the SWNT−streptavidin complexes demonstrates their usefulness as a docking matrix, for instance for electron microscopy studies, a technique requiring a virtually electron transparent support.

Phaseguide technology gives complete control over filling and emptying of any type of microfluidic structures, independent of the chamber and channel geometry. The technique is based on a step-wise advancement of the liquid-air interface using the meniscus pinning effect. In this paper, the main effects and parameters underlying the phaseguiding principle are discussed and a demonstration is given of its potential for dead angle filling, spatially controlled phaseguide overflow and sequential phaseguide overflow, all accumulating in a passive valving approach.