Biochip functionalization using electrowetting-on-dielectric digital microfluidics for surface plasmon resonance imaging detection of DNA hybridization

This work reports on a dynamically configurable micro-array surface plasmon resonance biochip platform. The platform comprises a digital electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) microfluidic device tailored to surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi). We demonstrate its application for simultaneous immobilization of different DNA probes at the designated detection sites on-chip from sub-μL volume solutions in combination with multichannel label-free real-time detection of subsequent hybridization reactions. Successful on-chip DNA probe dilution and immobilization is also demonstrated using SPRi hybridization detection. Furthermore, active control of the immobilized probe density and orientation is achieved under an applied potential using the electric interface of the EWOD device. For low probe densities, under negative applied potential, the DNA hybridization efficiency is enhanced compared to passive probe immobilization, yielding a two-fold SPR signal increase within only 8 min of hybridization. EWOD microfluidic platform coupled with SPRi promises to dramatically increase the speed of detection and quantification of biomolecular interactions while reducing reagent consumption. The proposed system would enable the development of high-throughput, rapid and ultrasensitive detection of biomolecules beyond DNA microarray applications.