Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

This study will utilize microfluidic systems and lab-on-a-chip devices for sensing nitrate and nitrite in situ for deep ocean deployments. The concept of micro-total-analysis systems and lab-on-chip technology was started in the early 1990s, and originated in biomedical/healthcare research and created impactful and industry-shifting results like the Abbott Point of Care i-STAT. These microfabricated systems combine a wide-range of technologies and often integrate optics, flow control, and electronics. The sensors are based on networks of micrometer sized channels and naturally lend themselves toward lower reagent and power consumption, as well as reduced physical size. However, very few lab-on-chip systems have been designed with the intention of deployment in situ, or in the deep ocean, or for long mission durations. Most microfluidic systems are designed for standard pressure and temperature ranges, and most only operate for a few minutes/hours on a laboratory bench. There have been a few pioneering efforts on using lab-on-a-chip technologies to create nutrient analyzers for aquatic environments. These efforts have been ongoing for nearly a decade and yet there are no wide-spread commercial offerings. RBR Ltd. would like to gain knowledge and experience in the creation of lab-on-chip technologies and be the first world-wide to commercialize a microfluidic nutrient analyzer targeting the scientific oceanography community and the environmental monitoring industry. We plan on addressing the key optical and fluid handling challenges that have hindered the dramatic adoption of this promising technology. RBR Ltd. has a successful 42-year history of designing and manufacturing rugged and high precision oceanographic instrumentation suitable for environmental, geophysical, and oceanographic monitoring. Our target, with Professor Sieben and his collaborators at Dalhousie, would be the creation of a compact lab-on-chip nitrate/nitrite sensor. This would be highly transformative to current practices in acquiring data on nitrate/nitrite flux and on understanding anthropogenic impacts on the coastal and ocean ecosystem.