https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-03457-1
Regular Article
Taguchi optimization of integrated flow microfluidic biosensor for COVID-19 detection
1
Quantum and Statistical Physics Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences of Monastir, University of Monastir, Environment Boulevard, 5019, Monastir, Tunisia
2
Higher National Engineering School of Tunis, Taha Hussein Montfleury Boulevard, University of Tunis, 1008, Tunis, Tunisia
3
Laboratory of Electronics and Microelectronics, Faculty of Science of Monastir, University of Monastir, Environment Boulevard, 5019, Monastir, Tunisia
4
Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology of Sousse, University of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia
5
Department of Physics, College of Science at Zulfi, Majmaah University, Al Majma’ah, Saudi Arabia
Received:
19
March
2022
Accepted:
17
October
2022
Published online:
12
November
2022
In this research, Taguchi's method was employed to optimize the performance of a microfluidic biosensor with an integrated flow confinement for rapid detection of the SARS-CoV-2. The finite element method was used to solve the physical model which has been first validated by comparison with experimental results. The novelty of this study is the use of the Taguchi approach in the optimization analysis. An 
orthogonal array of seven critical parameters—Reynolds number (Re), Damköhler number (Da), relative adsorption capacity (
), equilibrium dissociation constant (KD), Schmidt number (Sc), confinement coefficient (α) and dimensionless confinement position (X), with two levels was designed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) methods are also used to calculate the contribution of each parameter. The optimal combination of these key parameters was Re = 10–2, Da = 1000, = 0.5, KD = 5, Sc = 105, α = 2 and X = 2 to achieve the lowest dimensionless response time (0.11). Among the all-optimization factors, the relative adsorption capacity () has the highest contribution (37%) to the reduction of the response time, while the Schmidt number (Sc) has the lowest contribution (7%).
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
