Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/11496
Title: Magnetic DNA detection sensor for point-of-care diagnostics
Authors: Chaychian, Sara
Advisors: Balachandran, W
Slijepcevic, P
Keywords: Magnetic bead detection;Lab on a chip;Magnetic particle detection;Magnetic bead-based assay for rapid detection;Detection of super paramagnetic beads with air core coil
Issue Date: 2014
Publisher: Brunel University London
Abstract: This thesis focuses on inductive base sensor design at MHz range frequency. The background theory, design, experiments and results for a new magnetic particles sensor is presented. A new magnetic sensor based on a planar coil was investigated for DNA pathogen detection. Change in inductance of the planar coil due to the presence of magnetic particles with varying mass was measured. The experimental set-up consisted of different sized planar coil with associated electronics for inductance measurements. The best sensor performance was accomplished using two different inductors while oscillating at frequencies 2.4MHz using 9.5μH inductor and 7.2MHz with 85μH inductor. The sensor has very large signal to noise ratio (580×103), while the average amount of frequency drift was 0.58. This sensor was tested with various types of magnetic particles. In addition, iron-oxide nanoparticles were synthesized through water in oil microemulsion method and with an average size of 25nm. The best sensitivity achieved for detection of 50μg iron-oxide particles was with the bead size of 10nm. 81Hz frequency shift was attained in regard to that amount of particles. This research shows that increasing the resonance frequency to 7.2MHz can cause the larger output signal difference (frequency shift) in the presence of magnetic particles; however, the sensor stability is the most important factor for determining the detection resolution and sensitivity. The sensitivity is better if the sensor can detect smaller amount of magnetic sample. The results of this research demonstrate that while the sample consists of smaller size particles, the sensor can detect the lower amount of sample. This is due to the heating effect of nanoparticles. On the other hand the sample distance from the sensor has a major impact on the sensitivity too; the shorter the distance, the higher the sensitivity. This technique can potentially be extended to detect several different types of bacterial pathogens and can be modified for multiplex quantitative detection. This sensing technique will be incorporated into a handheld, disposable microfluidic chip for point-of-care diagnostics for sexually transmitted diseases. Key words: Point of care diagnostics, Magnetic particle Detection, Molecular detection, Inductive sensing
Description: This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University London
URI: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/11496
Appears in Collections:Electronic and Computer Engineering
Dept of Electronic and Electrical Engineering Theses

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
FulltextThesis.pdf8.91 MBAdobe PDFView/Open


Items in BURA are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.