Integrated system for rapid PCR-based DNA analysis in microfluidic devices

An integrated system for rapid PCR-based analysis on a microchip has been d emonstrated. The system couples a compact thermal cycling assembly based on dual Peltier thermoelectric elements with a microchip gel electrophoresis platform. This configuration allows fast(similar to 1 min/cycle) and effici ent DNA amplification on-chip followed by electrophoretic sizing and detect ion on the same chip. An on-chip DNA concentration technique has been incor porated into the system to further reduce analysis time by decreasing the n umber of thermal cycles required. The concentration injection scheme enable s detection of PCR products after performing as few as 10 thermal cycles, w ith a total analysis time of less than 20 min. The starting template copy n umber was less than 15 per injection volume.