On-Board Reagent Storage and Release by Solvent-Selective, Rotationally Opened Membranes – A Digital Twin Approach

Decentralized bioanalytical testing in resource-poor settings ranges among the prime applications of microfluidic systems. The high operational autonomy in such point-of-care / point-of-use scenarios requires on-board stored liquid reagents, which need to be safely contained during long-term storage, transport and handling, and reliably released prior to activation. Over the recent decades, centrifugal microfluidic technologies have demonstrated the capability of integrated, automated and parallelized sample preparation and detection of bioanalytical protocols. This paper introduces a novel concept for onboard storage of liquid reagents which can be delivered in a well-defined manner by a rotational stimulus of the system-innate spindle motor, while still aligning with the conceptual simplicity of such “Lab-on-a-Disc” (LoaD) concepts. The reagent storage technology is captured by a digital twin which allows making complex performance analysis and algorithmic design optimization according to given objectives as expressed by target metrics.