A highly miniaturized version of ELECTROPHORESIS performed in a microfluidic device.

The preparation and analysis of samples on miniaturized devices.

Microdevices that combine microfluidics technology with electrical and/or mechanical functions for analyzing very small fluid volumes. They consist of microchannels etched into substrates made of silicon, glass, or polymer using processes similar to photolithography. The test fluids in the channels can then interact with different elements such as electrodes, photodetectors, chemical sensors, pumps, and valves.

A highly-sensitive (in the picomolar range, which is 10,000-fold more sensitive than conventional electrophoresis) and efficient technique that allows separation of PROTEINS; NUCLEIC ACIDS; and CARBOHYDRATES. (Segen, Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992)

An electrochemical process in which macromolecules or colloidal particles with a net electric charge migrate in a solution under the influence of an electric current.

Electrophoresis in which a polyacrylamide gel is used as the diffusion medium.

The design or construction of objects greatly reduced in scale.

Silicone polymers which consist of silicon atoms substituted with methyl groups and linked by oxygen atoms. They comprise a series of biocompatible materials used as liquids, gels or solids; as film for artificial membranes, gels for implants, and liquids for drug vehicles; and as antifoaming agents.

Methods utilizing the principles of MICROFLUIDICS for sample handling, reagent mixing, and separation and detection of specific components in fluids.

Electrophoresis in which a second perpendicular electrophoretic transport is performed on the separate components resulting from the first electrophoresis. This technique is usually performed on polyacrylamide gels.

A nonlinear electrophoretic technique used to separate a variety of ionic compounds, ranging from small metal ions to large molecules like proteins. Unlike "linear" zone electrophoresis in which separating solute bands continually spread by diffusion or dispersion, isotachophoresis forms self-sharpening, adjacent zones of substantially pure solute whose concentrations often exceed several mgs/ml. In isotachophoresis a multianalyte sample is introduced between the leading electrolyte and the terminating electrolyte where the sample ions have lower electrophoretic mobilities than the leading ion but larger than the terminating ion. (From "Isotachophoresis" on the AES Web Site [Internet]. Madison, WI: The American Electrophoresis Society; c2000-2008 [cited 2009 Aug 20]. Available from http://www.aesociety.org/areas/isotachophoresis.php)

Gel electrophoresis in which the direction of the electric field is changed periodically. This technique is similar to other electrophoretic methods normally used to separate double-stranded DNA molecules ranging in size up to tens of thousands of base-pairs. However, by alternating the electric field direction one is able to separate DNA molecules up to several million base-pairs in length.

Procedures for recognizing individual animals and certain identifiable characteristics pertaining to them; includes computerized methods, ear tags, etc.

Electrophoresis in which agar or agarose gel is used as the diffusion medium.

The study of fluid channels and chambers of tiny dimensions of tens to hundreds of micrometers and volumes of nanoliters or picoliters. This is of interest in biological MICROCIRCULATION and used in MICROCHEMISTRY and INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES.

Polymerized methyl methacrylate monomers which are used as sheets, moulding, extrusion powders, surface coating resins, emulsion polymers, fibers, inks, and films (From International Labor Organization, 1983). This material is also used in tooth implants, bone cements, and hard corneal contact lenses.

The utilization of an electrical current to measure, analyze, or alter chemicals or chemical reactions in solution, cells, or tissues.

Small computers using LSI (large-scale integration) microprocessor chips as the CPU (central processing unit) and semiconductor memories for compact, inexpensive storage of program instructions and data. They are smaller and less expensive than minicomputers and are usually built into a dedicated system where they are optimized for a particular application. "Microprocessor" may refer to just the CPU or the entire microcomputer.

The sum of the weight of all the atoms in a molecule.

Methods of creating machines and devices.

QUATERNARY AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS containing three methyl groups, having the general formula of (CH3)3N+R.

The development and use of techniques and equipment to study or perform chemical reactions, with small quantities of materials, frequently less than a milligram or a milliliter.

Antibodies that are chemically bound to a substrate material which renders their location fixed.

Colorless, odorless crystals that are used extensively in research laboratories for the preparation of polyacrylamide gels for electrophoresis and in organic synthesis, and polymerization. Some of its polymers are used in sewage and wastewater treatment, permanent press fabrics, and as soil conditioning agents.

An acid-base indicator which is colorless in acid solution, but turns pink to red as the solution becomes alkaline. It is used medicinally as a cathartic.

Laboratory and other services provided to patients at the bedside. These include diagnostic and laboratory testing using automated information entry.

Electrophoresis in which discontinuities in both the voltage and pH gradients are introduced by using buffers of different composition and pH in the different parts of the gel column. The term 'disc' was originally used as an abbreviation for 'discontinuous' referring to the buffers employed, and does not have anything to do with the shape of the separated zones.

Concentration or quantity that is derived from the smallest measure that can be detected with reasonable certainty for a given analytical procedure.

Hard, amorphous, brittle, inorganic, usually transparent, polymerous silicate of basic oxides, usually potassium or sodium. It is used in the form of hard sheets, vessels, tubing, fibers, ceramics, beads, etc.

Proteins secreted by the epididymal epithelium. These proteins are both tissue- and species-specific. They are important molecular agents in the process of sperm maturation.

Measuring instruments for determining the temperature of matter. Most thermometers used in the field of medicine are designed for measuring body temperature or for use in the clinical laboratory. (From UMDNS, 1999)

In vitro method for producing large amounts of specific DNA or RNA fragments of defined length and sequence from small amounts of short oligonucleotide flanking sequences (primers). The essential steps include thermal denaturation of the double-stranded target molecules, annealing of the primers to their complementary sequences, and extension of the annealed primers by enzymatic synthesis with DNA polymerase. The reaction is efficient, specific, and extremely sensitive. Uses for the reaction include disease diagnosis, detection of difficult-to-isolate pathogens, mutation analysis, genetic testing, DNA sequencing, and analyzing evolutionary relationships.

Measurement of the temperature of a material, or of the body or an organ by various temperature sensing devices which measure changes in properties of the material that vary with temperature, such as ELASTICITY; MAGNETIC FIELDS; or LUMINESCENCE.

The statistical reproducibility of measurements (often in a clinical context), including the testing of instrumentation or techniques to obtain reproducible results. The concept includes reproducibility of physiological measurements, which may be used to develop rules to assess probability or prognosis, or response to a stimulus; reproducibility of occurrence of a condition; and reproducibility of experimental results.

Electrophoresis in which a starch gel (a mixture of amylose and amylopectin) is used as the diffusion medium.

The analysis of a chemical substance by inserting a sample into a carrier stream of reagent using a sample injection valve that propels the sample downstream where mixing occurs in a coiled tube, then passes into a flow-through detector and a recorder or other data handling device.

Laboratory tests demonstrating the presence of physiologically significant substances in the blood, urine, tissue, and body fluids with application to the diagnosis or therapy of disease.

Electrophoresis applied to BLOOD PROTEINS.

The development and use of techniques to study physical phenomena and construct structures in the nanoscale size range or smaller.

Electrophoresis in which cellulose acetate is the diffusion medium.

The study of chemical changes resulting from electrical action and electrical activity resulting from chemical changes.

A deoxyribonucleotide polymer that is the primary genetic material of all cells. Eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms normally contain DNA in a double-stranded state, yet several important biological processes transiently involve single-stranded regions. DNA, which consists of a polysugar-phosphate backbone possessing projections of purines (adenine and guanine) and pyrimidines (thymine and cytosine), forms a double helix that is held together by hydrogen bonds between these purines and pyrimidines (adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine).

A technique using antibodies for identifying or quantifying a substance. Usually the substance being studied serves as antigen both in antibody production and in measurement of antibody by the test substance.

Acrylic resins, also known as polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), are a type of synthetic resin formed from polymerized methyl methacrylate monomers, used in various medical applications such as dental restorations, orthopedic implants, and ophthalmic lenses due to their biocompatibility, durability, and transparency.

A group of 1,2-benzenediols that contain the general formula R-C6H5O2.

Agents that emit light after excitation by light. The wave length of the emitted light is usually longer than that of the incident light. Fluorochromes are substances that cause fluorescence in other substances, i.e., dyes used to mark or label other compounds with fluorescent tags.

Inorganic compounds that contain lithium as an integral part of the molecule.

Fluorescent probe capable of being conjugated to tissue and proteins. It is used as a label in fluorescent antibody staining procedures as well as protein- and amino acid-binding techniques.

Techniques used for determining the values of photometric parameters of light resulting from LUMINESCENCE.

Electric conductors through which electric currents enter or leave a medium, whether it be an electrolytic solution, solid, molten mass, gas, or vacuum.

Electrophoresis in which various denaturant gradients are used to induce nucleic acids to melt at various stages resulting in separation of molecules based on small sequence differences including SNPs. The denaturants used include heat, formamide, and urea.

Hybridization of a nucleic acid sample to a very large set of OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PROBES, which have been attached individually in columns and rows to a solid support, to determine a BASE SEQUENCE, or to detect variations in a gene sequence, GENE EXPRESSION, or for GENE MAPPING.

Electrophoresis in which a pH gradient is established in a gel medium and proteins migrate until they reach the site (or focus) at which the pH is equal to their isoelectric point.

Binary classification measures to assess test results. Sensitivity or recall rate is the proportion of true positives. Specificity is the probability of correctly determining the absence of a condition. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

The sequence of PURINES and PYRIMIDINES in nucleic acids and polynucleotides. It is also called nucleotide sequence.

Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.

A specialized field of physics and engineering involved in studying the behavior and properties of light and the technology of analyzing, generating, transmitting, and manipulating ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION in the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet range.

Chromatography on non-ionic gels without regard to the mechanism of solute discrimination.

A chemical element having an atomic weight of 106.4, atomic number of 46, and the symbol Pd. It is a white, ductile metal resembling platinum, and following it in abundance and importance of applications. It is used in dentistry in the form of gold, silver, and copper alloys.

Substances used for the detection, identification, analysis, etc. of chemical, biological, or pathologic processes or conditions. Indicators are substances that change in physical appearance, e.g., color, at or approaching the endpoint of a chemical titration, e.g., on the passage between acidity and alkalinity. Reagents are substances used for the detection or determination of another substance by chemical or microscopical means, especially analysis. Types of reagents are precipitants, solvents, oxidizers, reducers, fluxes, and colorimetric reagents. (From Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed, p301, p499)

The adhesion of gases, liquids, or dissolved solids onto a surface. It includes adsorptive phenomena of bacteria and viruses onto surfaces as well. ABSORPTION into the substance may follow but not necessarily.

Compounds formed by the joining of smaller, usually repeating, units linked by covalent bonds. These compounds often form large macromolecules (e.g., BIOPOLYMERS; PLASTICS).