Amphiphilic particle-stabilized nanoliter droplet reactors with a multi-modal portable reader for distributive biomarker quantification

Abstract

Compartmentalization, leveraging microfluidics, enables highly sensitive assays; but the requirement for significant infrastructure for their design, build, and operation limits access. Newer multi-material particle-based technologies thermodynamically stabilize monodisperse droplets as individual reaction compartments with simple liquid handling steps, precluding the need for expensive microfluidic equipment. Here, we further improve the accessibility of this lab on a particle technology to resource-limited settings by combining this assay system with a portable multi-modal reader, thus enabling nanoliter droplet assays in an accessible platform. We show the utility of this platform in measuring N-terminal propeptide B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), a heart failure biomarker, in complex medium and patient samples. We report a limit of detection of ~0.05 ng/ml and a linear response between 0.2 - 2 ng/ml in spiked plasma samples. We also show that, owing to the plurality of measurements per sample, swarm sensing acquires better statistical quantitation with a portable reader. Monte Carlo simulations show the increasing capability of this platform to differentiate between negative and positive samples, i.e. below or above the clinical cut-off for acute heart failure (~0.1ng/ml), as a function of the number of particles measured. Our platform measurements correlate with gold standard ELISA measurement in cardiac patient samples, and achieve lower variation in measurement across samples compared to the standard well plate-based ELISA. Thus, we show the capabilities of a cost-effective droplet-reader system in accurately measuring biomarkers in nanoliter droplets for diseases that disproportionally affect underserved communities in resource-limited settings.

Numerical simulation and analysis of droplet formation within an amphiphilic particle

“…12 In contrast, particle-templated droplet or dropicle formation has been proposed as an instrument-free and user-friendly method to capture a uniform volume of aqueous solution inside or surrounding an engineered solid particle upon simple mixing with continuous oil and dispersed aqueous phases. [13][14][15][16][17][18] Single-material hydrophilic particles, with a spherical or a crescent shape, hold a volume of an aqueous solution upon the shear-induced splitting of a larger aqueous volume. [19][20][21] Multi-material amphiphilic particles of different shapes, composed of an inner hydrophilic layer and an outer hydrophobic layer, spontaneously capture a uniform droplet volume inside their cavities as the aqueous and oil phases prefer to interact with the inner hydrophilic and outer hydrophobic surfaces of the particle, respectively.…”