DOI: 10.1615/ICHMT.2014.IntSympConvHeatMassTransf
ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-356-7
ISSN Online: 2642-3499
ISSN Flash Drive: 2642-3502
MULTIPHYSICS SIMULATION OF MICROFLUIDIC REACTOR FOR POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION
Краткое описание
Polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) is a thermal cycling process (repeated heating and cooling of PCR solution) for amplifying DNA. PCR devices have many biomedical applications. One of the most important aspects for the success of PCR is to control the temperature of the solution precisely at the desired temperature levels required for PCR in a cyclic manner. Microfluidics offers a great advantage over conventional techniques since very small amounts of PCR solution is needed for the process to occur at the desired temperature levels. In this study, a multiphysics-based computational model is developed to assess the thermal performance of a microfluidics platform for continuous-flow PCR. The microfluidic platform consists of a spiral channel on a glass wafer with integrated chromium microheaters. The computational model couples the convection heat transfer and fluid flow within the microchannles and the electric field generated at the microheaters using COMSOL® Multiphysics software. With the current computational model, the effects of design parameter on the performance of PCR cycle can be understood and utilized for the optimization of a microfluidic PCR device. Moreover, the computational model can also be implemented for a general design tool for the design of efficient microfluidics based thermal reactors which can extend the boundaries of microfluidics technologies in biomedical and bioengineering fields.