Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/94217
Title: A lab-on-a-chip for detection of nerve agent sarin in blood
Authors: Tan, Hsih Yin
Loke, Weng Keong
Tan, Yong Teng
Nguyen, Nam-Trung
Keywords: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
Issue Date: 2008
Source: Tan, H. Y., Loke, W. K., Tan, Y. T., & Nguyen, N. T. (2008). A lab-on-a-chip for detection of nerve agent sarin in blood. Lab on a Chip, 8(6), 885-891.
Series/Report no.: Lab on a chip
Abstract: Sarin (C4H10FO2P,O-isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is a colourless, odourless and highly toxic phosphonate that acts as a cholinesterase inhibitor and disrupts neuromuscular transmission. Sarin and related phosphonates are chemical warfare agents, and there is a possibility of their application in a military or terrorist attack. This paper reports a lab-on-a-chip device for detecting a trace amount of sarin in a small volume of blood. The device should allow early detection of sarin exposure during medical triage to differentiate between those requiring medical treatment from mass psychogenic illness cases. The device is based on continuous-flow microfluidics with sequential stages for lysis of whole blood, regeneration of free nerve agent from its complex with blood cholinesterase, protein precipitation, filtration, enzyme-assisted reaction and optical detection. Whole blood was first mixed with a nerve gas regeneration agent, followed by a protein precipitation step. Subsequently, the lysed product was filtered on the chip in two steps to remove particulates and fluoride ions. The filtered blood sample was then tested for trace levels of regenerated sarin using immobilised cholinesterase on the chip. Activity of immobilised cholinesterase was monitored by the enzyme-assisted reaction of a substrate and reaction of the end-product with a chromophore. Resultant changes in chromophore-induced absorbance were recorded on the chip using a Z-shaped optical window. Loss of enzyme activity obtained prior and after passage of the treated blood sample, as shown by a decrease in recorded absorbance values, indicates the presence of either free or regenerated sarin in the blood sample. The device was fabricated in PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) using CO2-laser micromachining. This paper reports the testing results of the different stages, as well as the whole device with all stages in the required assay sequence. The results demonstrate the potential use of a field-deployable hand-held device for point-of-care triage of suspected nerve agent casualties.
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/94217
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/7827
DOI: 10.1039/B800438B
Schools: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 
Rights: © 2008 The Royal Society of Chemistry. This is the author created version of a work that has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication by Lab on a chip, The Royal Society of Chemistry. It incorporates referee’s comments but changes resulting from the publishing process, such as copyediting, structural formatting, may not be reflected in this document. The published version is available at: [DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B800438B].
Fulltext Permission: open
Fulltext Availability: With Fulltext
Appears in Collections:MAE Journal Articles

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