Raman Microfluidic Biosenso

A Raman microfluidic biosensor is being produced that will use a cartridge containing a microfluidic device and a syringe pre-loaded with a sample preparation solution. This cartridge will be used with a handheld Raman spectrometer to analyze a water sample for three common bacterial contaminates, E. coli, G. lablia and V. cholera. The microfluidic device prepares the water sample by using inertial focusing to concentrate the bacteria from a 5 mL sample to a 30 μL sample. After concentrating the bacteria, the water sample is mixed with the sample preparation solution in the microfluidic device. The preparation solution is made up of gold nanoparticles tagged with a Raman active dye and a bacterial antigen and will bind to a targeted bacteria antibody. This binding allows the handheld Raman spectrometer to produce a spectrum that portrays the bacteria present in the sample. This cartridge provides quick and easy operation, portability, accurate and fast results, and is less expensive than competitors due to the use of the microfluidic device. The project has a NPV10 of $32 Million with an IRR of 16%. This leads to the conclusion that this is a profitable endeavor.