Performance
The low thermal mass of chip and heater allow the rapid thermal transients with minimal electrical consumption. This results in an efficient PCR system suitable for integration into a portable, battery-powered device. (See future developments for more information.) The control software has been designed to take full advantage of the hardware properties and provide an accurate and efficient temperature control.
A brief summary of the control system performance is presented below.
| Control Accuracy: | ± 0.2 °C |
| Power Consumption: | < 10 Watts |
| Max Heating Rate: | ~ 30 °C/s |
| Max Cooling Rate: | ~ 30 °C/s |
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| A graph representing a few cycles of the PCR system |
The thermal performance of this PCR system compares favorably to those of other systems, especially to standard thermocyclers commonly used in biology laboratories. Time spent on thermal transients can be reduced by 90% with respect to a standard PCR machine.
The first tests show a successful amplification of the 212bp E. Coli K12 MG1665 gene. In this case 35 cycles were performed in about 30 minutes, but we aim to reduce the total time to less than 10 minutes by improving the PCR protocol.
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| Fluorescent analysis showing DNA amplification |