Integrated System for Rapid PCR-Based DNA Analysis in Microfluidic Devices

TLDR

The system integrates a dual‑Peltier thermal cycler with a microchip gel electrophoresis platform and an on‑chip DNA concentration step to shorten thermal cycling. The integrated system achieves on‑chip PCR amplification in ~1 min per cycle, enabling detection of fewer than 15 template copies after only 10 cycles and a total analysis time under 20 min with on‑chip electrophoretic sizing.

Abstract

An integrated system for rapid PCR-based analysis on a microchip has been demonstrated. The system couples a compact thermal cycling assembly based on dual Peltier thermoelectric elements with a microchip gel electrophoresis platform. This configuration allows fast (∼1 min/cycle) and efficient DNA amplification on-chip followed by electrophoretic sizing and detection on the same chip. An on-chip DNA concentration technique has been incorporated into the system to further reduce analysis time by decreasing the number of thermal cycles required. The concentration injection scheme enables detection of PCR products after performing as few as 10 thermal cycles, with a total analysis time of less than 20 min. The starting template copy number was less than 15 per injection volume.