Optimisation of analyte transport in integrated microfluidic affinity sensors for the quantification of low levels of analyte

New designs for microfluidic channels to be integrated with small-scale affinity sensors for analytical applications are provided. Theoretical approaches demonstrate efficient and uniform mass transfer of the analyte from the bulk flow to small-scale affinity sensors in the base of fluidic channels by (i) active control of the analyte flow speed over the affinity sensor, (ii) non-rectangular channel geometries and (iii) non-uniform distributions of recognition binding sites over the active area of the sensor. The methodology reported provides generic strategies that can be exploited for small-scale sensors in single or multiplex formats. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.