SEMOFS.

Project Title: Surface Enhanced Micro Optical Fluidic Systems.

Acronym: SEMOFS.

Sponsor: EC

Total Amount: €2,022,873

MEC Budget (For joint project only): €306,460

Project Start/End Dates: 1 July 2005 - 30 June 2008

MEC Contact: Dr. Georgi Lalev, Email: LalevGM@Cardiff.ac.uk

Scope:

The aim of the SEMOFS project is to develop a radically new concept for biosensors: a polymer-based card type integrated ‘Plasmon enhanced SPR’ sensor. The card will combine biologically active surfaces with integrated optics (light source, detection) and biocompatible multi-channel micro-fluidics. The project aims to achieve a significant breakthrough since all functions will be totally integrated on a single polymer-based chip. The final product shall be manufactured with large scale, mass production techniques. The card will therefore be extremely low cost and disposable while providing increased sensitivity and diagnosis possibilities.

Objectives:

To increase detection sensitivity and access to new information of the biological sample by utilising nanotechnology based biosensing concept "Plasmon enhanced SPR".
To realise multichanneling (further enhancing sensitivity by parallel analysis) and integrated fluid actuators.
To enable card type integrated solution and multichannelling by utilising integrated optical detection concept based on Organic Light Emmitting Display (OLED)/waveguide/miniaturised spectrometer.
To ensure compatibility of the mastering and replication protocols with constraints of industrial scale manufacturing by hybrid micromachining.
To validate the expected applications and evaluation of clinical viability - Cancer diagnosis.

MEC Role:

To utilise rapid tooling solutions in order to produce prototypes of channelling structures (the ultimate goal will be fabrication of 4 and 10 channelling structures) for carrying out product tests and also to verify/optimise the potential tooling solution for serial manufacture.
To investigate the capabilities and performance of different micro tool-making processes and replication processes in order to determine the manufacturing constraints imposed by both tools fabrication and replication processes.