{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T14:06:25Z","timestamp":1771509985071,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,8,7]],"date-time":"2018-08-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1533600000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>An accurate and easy-to-use Q3 system for on-chip quantitative real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) is hereby demonstrated, and described in detail. The qPCR reactions take place inside a single-use Lab-on-a-Chip with multiple wells, each with 5 to 15 \u00b5L capacity. The same chip hosts a printed metal heater coupled with a calibrated sensor, for rapid and accurate temperature control inside the reaction mixture. The rest of the system is non-disposable and encased in a 7 \u00d7 14 \u00d7 8.5 (height) cm plastic shell weighing 300 g. Included in the non-disposable part is a fluorescence read-out system featuring up to four channels and a self-contained control and data storage system, interfacing with an external user-friendly software suite. Hereby, we illustrate the engineering details of the Q3 system and benchmark it with seamlessly ported testing protocols, showing that Q3 equals the performance of standard commercial systems. Overall, to the best of our knowledge, this is one of the most mature general-purpose systems for on-chip qPCR currently available.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s18082583","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,8,7]],"date-time":"2018-08-07T11:20:23Z","timestamp":1533640823000},"page":"2583","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":24,"title":["Q3: A Compact Device for Quick, High Precision qPCR"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5868-8616","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Cereda","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics S.r.l., I-20864 Agrate Brianza, Monza Brianza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alessandro","family":"Cocci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics S.r.l., I-20864 Agrate Brianza, Monza Brianza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Davide","family":"Cucchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics S.r.l., I-20864 Agrate Brianza, Monza Brianza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lillo","family":"Raia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics S.r.l., I-20864 Agrate Brianza, Monza Brianza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Danilo","family":"Pirola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics S.r.l., I-20864 Agrate Brianza, Monza Brianza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Bruno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics S.r.l., I-20864 Agrate Brianza, Monza Brianza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pietro","family":"Ferrari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics S.r.l., I-20864 Agrate Brianza, Monza Brianza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Valentina","family":"Pavanati","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics S.r.l., I-20864 Agrate Brianza, Monza Brianza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giorgia","family":"Calisti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNR IMM\u2014MDM, I-20864 Agrate Brianza, Monza Brianza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7290-9542","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesco","family":"Ferrara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics S.r.l., I-73100 Lecce, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9266-9075","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro P.","family":"Bramanti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics S.r.l., I-73100 Lecce, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marco A.","family":"Bianchessi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics S.r.l., I-20864 Agrate Brianza, Monza Brianza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,8,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"263","DOI":"10.1101\/SQB.1986.051.01.032","article-title":"Specific Enzymatic Amplification of DNA in Vitro: The Polymerase Chain Reaction","volume":"51","author":"Mullis","year":"1986","journal-title":"Cold Spring Harb. 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