The µChemLab™ Bio Detector

Sandia’s chemical analysis system can rapidly detect and analyze toxic agents such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoa

Sandia National Laboratories has developed a compact, hand-held detection system that places the capability of a fully functional chemistry laboratory at the fingertips of a trained field operator. The µChemLab^TM was designed, demonstrated, and tested by Sandia researchers over several years. Thetechnology wasinitially developed for homeland security, defense applications, war fighters, and first responders. A variety of applications and near-term commercialization opportunities now exist in markets such as air and water quality, medical diagnostics, biotechnology, and industrial process control.

The µChemLab^TM Bio Detector is a portable device for determining the presence of a target analyte and enabling fast microfluidic separations of biological samples with high sensitivity. The device miniaturizes bench-scale analyses using fabricated microchannels in a hand-held, low-power device. Many different separations can be run simultaneously, and identification of the compound of interest is determined from unique retention-time signatures.

Designed for the rapid detection of proteins, the µChemLab^TM has been used to identify biotoxins such as ricin, staphylococcal enterotoxin B, and botulinum toxin; its capability has been extended in combination with innovative,automated sample preparation technology to enable the identification of viruses and bacteria. Parallel analysis channels provide highly accurate detection at nanomolar sensitivites with a low false alarm probability.