Towards a sample-in,answer-out point-of-care platform for nucleic acid extraction and amplification: Using an HPV E6/E7 mRNA model system

The paper presents the development of a proof-of-principle hands-free and self-contained diagnostic platform for detection of human papillomavirus (hpv) e6/e7 mrna in clinical specimens. the automated platform performs chip-based sample preconcentration,nucleic acid extraction,amplification,and real-time fluorescent detection with minimal user interfacing. it consists of two modular prototypes,one for sample preparation and one for amplification and detection; however,a common interface is available to facilitate later integration into one single module. nucleic acid extracts (n = 28) from cervical cytology specimens extracted on the sample preparation chip were tested using the pretect hpv-proofer and achieved an overall detection rate for hpv across all dilutions of 5085.7. a subset of 6 clinical samples extracted on the sample preparation chip module was chosen for complete validation on the nasba chip module. for 4 of the samples,a 100 amplification for hpv 16 or 33 was obtained at the 1:10 dilution for microfluidic channels that filled correctly. the modules of a sample-in,answer-out diagnostic platform have been demonstrated from clinical sample input through sample preparation,amplification and final detection. copyright © 2012 anja gulliksen et al.