Ensaios de imunoaglutinação em chips de acustofluídica

Abstract

In this work, we studied the effects of acoustofluidics on immunagglutination assays through the particle agglutination reaction of latex particles coated with anti-PCR gamma globulin. We used an acoustofluidic chip composed of microchannels and an acoustic microcavity, in which the particles are levitated and clustered in the central regions due to radiation force. We performed agglutination tests on the acoustofluidic chip using the BIOLATEX PCR kit to characterize the chip. Initially, we investigated the agglutination patterns formed on a slide by optical microscopy. Then, we analyzed how these patterns behaved within the acoustic microcavity, investigating the reactions between antigens and antibodies and the conditions necessary for this reaction, as well as evaluating the acoustofluidic chip in terms of repeatability, reproducibility, detection limit, and sensitivity. We demonstrated that acoustofluidic systems have great potential for clinical analyses, especially for the reaction between antigens and antibodies, increasing the interaction between these components. A significant decrease in reaction time and greater stability of agglutinates within the microcavity were observed through the agglutination test on the chip. The detection limit was found to be 187, 5 pg/µL, which is approximately 32 times higher than that of the conventional test, enabling greater sensitivity of the test. The acoustofluidic chip has unique characteristics that allow its application in life sciences, particularly in the field of clinical diagnostics, offering results with great potential.