Digital Microfluidics: An Emerging Sample Preparation Platform for Mass Spectrometry

Mass spectrometry (MS) has become an indispensable tool for laboratory science, but a drawback is the laborious sample processing required before MS analysis. Digital microfluidics (DMF), a microscale liquid handling technique characterized by the manipulation of fluid droplets on open electrode arr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Analytical chemistry (Washington) 2013-07, Vol.85 (13), p.6178-6184
Main Authors: Kirby, Andrea E, Wheeler, Aaron R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analytical chemistry
Animals
Arrays
Chemical synthesis
Diagnostic tests
Digital
Droplets
Electrodes
Equipment Design - methods
Equipment Design - trends
Fluid dynamics
Handling
Humans
Mass spectrometry
Mass Spectrometry - methods
Mass Spectrometry - trends
Microfluidics
Microfluidics - methods
Microfluidics - trends
Proteomics
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
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Summary:Mass spectrometry (MS) has become an indispensable tool for laboratory science, but a drawback is the laborious sample processing required before MS analysis. Digital microfluidics (DMF), a microscale liquid handling technique characterized by the manipulation of fluid droplets on open electrode arrays, presents a potential solution to this problem. In DMF, discrete droplets can be made to merge, mix, split, and dispense from reservoirs. Since droplets are manipulated individually and act as discrete microreactors, DMF is well suited for microscale sample processing. Coupling the versatility of MS analysis with DMF sample handling has been beneficial for a number of DMF-based applications, including proteomics, chemical synthesis, and clinical diagnostics. In this review, we provide a summary of efforts to integrate these two technologies, focusing on examples of both off-line and in-line MS analysis for DMF sample processing.
ISSN:0003-2700
1520-6882
DOI:10.1021/ac401150q