Design of a Labــbuilt Fully Automated Microfluidic Fluorometric System for Fluorescent Dye Applications

Abstract

Microfluidics can process small amounts of fluids by using microscopic channels with microscale dimensions ranging from tens to hundreds of micrometers. Many researchers have recently been working on smaller analytical equipment, such as micro flow cytometers. These gadgets offer numerous advantages, including portability, low cost, and low power consumption. It can also be integrated with other microfluidic devices for multitasking applications. In this study, the fluorescein dye was estimated using a lab-builtfully automated microfluidic fluorometric system. The developed system contained a microfluidic chip with two lines, each four centimetres long and with a volume of 15 µL. In this setup, two Arduino UNO (R3 version) microcontrollers were programmed using homebrew software. The first was to manage the two improvised peristaltic pumps, which successfully introduced the fluorescein dye to the water stream automatically, replacing the manual injection. The volume of the fluorescein sample was modified by varying the fluorescein line's run time. The second one was utilized to record the output signal. The method accurately identified fluorescein concentrations up to 0.01 µg/mL and 0.999 as a regression coefficient for six points. The RSD% (Relative Standard Deviation) for ten 0.08 µg/mL fluorescein measurements was 0%, and the detection limit was 1x10-4 µg/mL. The suggested method can measure 300 samples per hour while decreasing the amounts of reagents and waste. This microfluidic fluorometric system has the potential to be used for fluorescent dye assays in a variety of applications.

Keywords

• automation instruments
• microfluidic applications
• lab-made microfluidic
• fluorometric system