Coded Microparticles - Microfluidics & Microengineering Group @ STRI @ University of Hertfordshire

Coded Microparticles Barcoded Coloured Micro Bar Code Smart Bead Reader Reading Colored

Trackable micro and nanoparticles are of great topicality. Such particles can be employed in many fields, notably the construction of three dimensional biochemical assays. In such techniques each particle has both a unique identity, coded by physical or other means, in conjunction with surface functionalisation allowing attachment of chemical moieties. For instance such moiteties may be oligonucleotide targets that are deterministically attached to specific defined particles by virtue of their unique codes. In such an example the reporter flurophore will be incorporated in a probe-target system to indicate hybridization. Subsequent to detection of hybridization the particle’s identity may be read and hence the identity of the unknown, hybridized sequence to be determined. The group has developed coded microparticles in both linear (1D) and array (2D) forms. These concepts have been protected by a number of broad, core patent filings with priority dating to 1994. The particles have been realized in both silicon and polymer.


Silicon particles.	Coloured polymer particles.	The particles can then be automatically identified (read) using specially written image processing software (developed within the STRI).

The University of Hertfordshire has assigned all commercial rights for Bioscience and Chemical applications of this technology to 3D Molecular Sciences Ltd.