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Plarion have developed the low cost generic diagnostic Discipher test platform, based on the hardware of an optical disc drive with;
- Temperature control up to 80C
- Centrifugal microfluidics
- Sensitivity to optical changes
- Multiplexed samples / tests
- Portablility - plugs in to any computer
- Predeposited reagents
- Low volumes required
- Real time analysis
By basing the diagnostics platform on an optical drive, we are building on 30+ years of development, resulting in a robust and highly engineered product, that can;
- detect small changes in optical transmission/reflection
- run multiple samples at once OR
- run multiple tests on one sample
- be portable - plug in to any computer to run
Microfluidic disc
The drive platform takes a microfluidic disc, containing the sample of interest
Centrifugal pumping – no external pumps, interconnects
Applicable to a wide range of fluid viscosities
Valving, decanting, mixing, calibration, etc all demonstrated.
Read mechanisms
The platform works by detecting optical changes in a biological sample, brought about via rotational microfluidics in combination with a number of well established techniques in the field of biological assays, such as;
- Silver enhancement – can detect single enhancement processes – very sensitive
- Colorimetric detection to < 0.5% absolute
- Turbidity change
- Submicron resolution imaging
- Bead or cell imaging, counting
Biochemical Assays
The types of assays that may be performed on this platform include;
- Nucleic acid based assays (RNA/DNA)
- Antibody assays
- Cell based assays
 Application Areas
Possible areas of application for this platform include;
- Diagnostics e.g. pathogen identification and host genotyping
- Veterinary medicine
- Wellness testing
- Food allergies
- Quality monitoring e.g. GMO detection, salmonella
Plarion has IP rights to a patent portfolio covering optical disc based assays and biological testing. The work has been part-funded by the EU FP7 Digital Sequencing Programme, which uses a modified optical disc drive to perform DNA sequencing.
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