| The combination of metabolic related diseases contributes to the 4th leading factor of death by diseases in the United States and keeps growing in a double digit rate. The fast growing numbers of such patients generate great demand for a commercially available biochip which is able to carry out not only fast, reliable, and accurate measurements but also portable or disposable format in low cost.; In this work, a disposable biosensor array is designed, fabricated and calibrated for monitoring human metabolic parameters. The biosensor array is able to perform rapid and accurate measurement of multiple metabolic parameters in human blood, such as partial oxygen, glucose and lactate. By integration into a stand-alone disposable lab-on-a-chip, field measurement of human metabolic parameters as a point-of-care testing (POCT) can be realized. In addition, the proposed biosensor array is also applied for monitoring cellular signals in an integrated microfluidic cellular system.; Compare with commercial available biosensors, this work mainly focuses on an inexpensive platform for disposable biochip applied for field tests. Rather than the expensive Silicon substrate, the biosensor array is fabricated on an inexpensive polymer substrate. Many novel methods and technologies are then developed and extensively tested including low-cost fabrication process such as spray coating and screen-printing. The bio-compatibility of the biochip components is another important concern in selecting appropriate material and associated patterning techniques.; In this work, multiple parameters that can affect biosensor performances are extensively studied and used for computer-based simulation. The biosensor configuration is then characterized and optimized based on the simulation and experimental results. Associated with a pre-calibration technique, the fabricated biosensor array is integrated into a plastic biochip for on-site measurement without temperature dependency. In addition, the biosensor array is also integrated with a special designed microfluidic system for continuous monitoring of the metabolism of human islet cells. |
