Heat Transfer Analysis of Peltier-Based Thermocycler for a Microfluidic-PCR Chip

Polymeric chain reaction (PCR) is one of the commonly used technologies for the exponential amplification of a pathogen's DNA or RNA for quick detection. A common PCR procedure includes three major steps: denaturation (90–97 °C), annealing (50–60 °C), and extension (68–72 °C). This process is often repeated in 25–30 cycles, and it may take up to 5–6 h for successful amplification of the target DNA. The implementation of PCR in a microfluidic platform would reduce the reaction time drastically as it may consume only a few microliters of samples and reagents. Also, it increases the sensitivity and capability of point-of-care applications. A thermal analysis of a microfluidic device fabricated using thermoplastic (PMMA) is presented in this paper. The heating and cooling of the sample are done using two thermoelectric modules. The numerical analyses of the system are carried out for comparing the performance of thermoplastic materials during the thermal ramping process.