A self-powered one-touch blood extraction system: a novel polymer-capped hollow microneedle integrated with a pre-vacuum actuator

Abstract

Blood is the gold standard sample medium that can provide a wide variety of useful biological information for the diagnosis of various diseases. For portable point-of-care diagnosis, blood extraction systems have attracted attention as easier, safer, and more rapid methods of collecting small blood volumes. In this paper, we introduce a novel self-powered one-touch blood extraction system created by assembling a smart polymer-capped hollow microneedle in a pre-vacuum polydimethylsiloxane actuator. The optimized hollow microneedle was precisely fabricated by drawing lithography for minimally invasive blood extraction, with a length of 1800 μm, an inner diameter of 60 μm, an outer diameter of 130 μm, and a bevel angle of 15°. The system utilizes only a single step for operation; a finger press activates the blood sampling process based on the negative pressure-driven force built into the pre-vacuum activated actuator. A sufficient volume of blood (31.3 ± 2.0 μl) was successfully extracted from a rabbit for evaluation using a micro total analysis system. The entire system was made of low-cost and disposable materials to achieve easy operation with a miniature structure and to meet the challenging requirements for single-use application in a point-of-care system without the use of any external power equipment.

Vacuum-driven power-free microfluidics utilizing the gas solubility or permeability of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)

“…Limitations and an outlook of the vacuumdriven power-free microfluidics are discussed. In this review, we will not cover common methodologies, such as direct application of a vacuum at a reservoir outlet, [31][32][33] and vacuum controlled Quake's pneumatic valves. 34,35 Rather, we will focus on the approaches based on the gas soluble or permeable nature of PDMS.…”

Engineering Microneedles for Therapy and Diagnosis: A Survey

“…However, the process of large volumes of blood being collected by MNs with fast speed is still in its infancy for POC application. Li et al developed a self-powered one-touch blood collector [130]. The device was composed of a pre-vacuumed actuator and a hollow MN.…”

Towards autonomous lab-on-a-chip devices for cell phone biosensing

“…A concept that more closely meets the demands of autonomous disposable devices for cell phone analyses (henceforth ADDCA) has been recently published (Li et al, 2015). The device consists of a self-powered one-touch blood extraction system, using a polymer-capped hollow micro needle and a pre-vacuum polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chamber (Figure 2a).…”