An inkjet characterization platform for improving 3D printed microfluidic devices

Rapid diagnostic testing at the site of a patient, so-called point-of-care (POC) testing, is essential to provide healthcare when a fully equipped laboratory is not accessible. In developing countries, suitable POC diagnostics could yearly save millions of lives by early diagnosis of a small number of treatable conditions identified by the World Health Organization (WHO). As a result of the inverse correlation between the number of lives saved and the level of diagnostic infrastructure required, the WHO defined guidelines for viable developing world diagnostics that underscore the need for low-cost, disposable assays that require minimal user-dependent steps and are equipment-free. The aim of this project is to improve the sensitivity of chemical amplification-based assays available in a self-contained capillarity-driven microfluidic format compliant with these guidelines. A radically new method is proposed to fabricate monolithic passive microfluidics, namely through 3D printing.