Improving chip-to-chip precision in disposable microchip capillary electrophoresis devices with internal standards

To realize portable systems for routine measurements in point-of-care settings, MCE methods are required to be robust across many single-use chips. While it is well-known internal standards (ISTDs) improve run-to-run precision, a systematic investigation is necessary to determine the significance of chip-to-chip imprecision in MCE and how ISTDs account for it. This paper addresses this question by exploring the reproducibility of Na quantification across six basic, in-house fabricated microchips. A dataset of 900 electrophoerograms was collected from analyzing five concentrations of NaCl with two ISTDs (CsCl and LiCl). While both improved the peak area reproducibility, the Na/Cs ratio was superior to the Na/Li ratio (improving the RSD by a factor of 2-4, depending on the Na concentration). Weattribute this to the significant variation inmicrochannel surface properties, which was accounted for by cesium but not lithium. Microchip dimension and detector variations were only a few percent, and could be improved through commercial fabrication over in-house made microchips. These results demonstrate that ISTDs not only correct for intrachip imprecision, but are also a viable means to correct for chip-to-chip imprecision inherent in disposable, point-of-care MCE devices. However, as expected, the internal standard must be carefully chosen.