The application of microbeads to microfluidic systems for enhanced detection and purification of biomolecules

•Bead-based microfluidics provide short transportation length and high surface-to-volume ratio.•Commercial microbeads offer varied, robust and dense surface functionalization.•A system was described that combines microbeads in a microfluidic system.•This platform can be a development in miniaturized biosensing and biotechnology assays.•Enhanced multiplexing, speed and sensitivity can be achieved.

This paper describes microbead-based microfluidic systems. Several aspects of bead assays in microfluidics make them advantageous for bioassays in simple microchannels, including enhanced surface-to-volume ratio, improved molecular recognition reaction efficiency, and the wide range of surface functionalization available with commercial microbeads. Two-level SU-8 molds are used to fabricate PDMS microchannels that can hydrodynamically trap different types of microbeads, with characteristic dimensions of tens of microns. The use of these microbead-based microfluidic systems in the biosensing of antibodies, toxins and nucleic acids, as well as in antibody purification will be presented and discussed in this paper.

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