Lab-On-Chip

Lab-on-Chip technology allows chemical

and biological processes to be performed
on a small glass/plastic substrates with
microfluidic channels or capillaries
 What is Microfluidics?

 Microfluidics deals with the

behavior, precise control and
manipulation of fluids that are
geometrically constrained to a
small, typically sub-millimeter,
scale.
 Microfluidics contd.
 small volumes(nl, pl, fl)
 small size
 low energy consumption
 It is a multidisciplinary field intersecting
engineering, physics, chemistry,
microtechnology and biotechnology, with
practical applications to the design of systems in
which such small volumes of fluids will be used.
 Applications
1.Micropneumatic systems, i.e.
microsystems for the handling of off-
chip fluids (liquid pumps, gas valves,
etc), and microfluidic structures for
the on-chip handling of nano- and
picolitre volumes. The commercially
most successful application today is
the inkjet printhead.
2. Advances in microfluidics technology are
revolutionizing molecular biology procedures for
enzymatic analysis (e.g., glucose and lactate
assays), DNA analysis (e.g., polymerase chain
reaction The basic idea of microfluidic biochips is to
integrate assay operations such as detection, as
well as sample pre-treatment and sample
preparation on one chip.
An emerging application area for biochips is clinical
pathology, especially the immediate point-of-care
diagnosis of diseases. Microfluidics-based devices
are capable of continuous sampling and real-time
testing of air/water samples for biochemical toxins
and other dangerous pathogens, can serve as an
always-on "bio-smoke alarm" for early warning.
Some images of microfluids
 Microfluidics uses microfabrication techniques from the
IC industry to fabricate channels, chambers, reactors,
and active components on the size scale of the width of
a human hair or smaller

Credit: Dr. Karen Cheung, UBC ECE

 Behavior of fluids at Macro and
Micro
 The behavior of fluids at the microscale
can differ from 'macrofluidic' behavior in
that factors such surface tension, energy
dissipation, and fluidic resistance start to
dominate the system. Microfluidics studies
how these behaviors change, and how
they can be worked around, or exploited
for new uses.
 Macrofluid vs Microfluid contd
 At small scales (channel diameters of around
100 nanometers to several hundred
micrometers) some interesting and sometimes
unintuitive properties appear. In particular, the
Reynolds number which compares the effect of
momentum of a fluid to the effect of viscocity can
become very low. A key consequence of this is
that fluids, when side-by-side, do not necessarily
mix in the traditional sense; molecular transport
between them must often be through
diffussion.This property is important in many
microfluidic devices.
 Advantages of Microfluidics
 Ability to work with small samples
 Smaller and less expensive biological and
chemical analysis.
 Offer better performance with reduced power
consumption
 Can be combined with traditional electronics
system for lab-on-chip
 Batch production so less expensive, disposable,
safer, savings in cleaning and maintenance.
 Lab-on-Chip
Also Micro Total Analysis System
 Lab-On-Chip

Lab-on-Chip technology allows chemical

and biological processes to be performed
on a small glass/plastic substrates with
microfluidic channels or capillaries
 Some Key definitions
 Microdispenser-gives graduated amount of
blood at a given time
 Multiplexer- It is a network of channels
which carry the required amount of sample
from the common source point
 Air bursting detonators- compressed air
bursts out from an encapsulated
membranes in order to develop a pressure
difference across the microfluidic network
Components of Lab-on-Chip
 Structurally Programmable Microfluidic
systems(sPROMS) - This is a passive
microfluidic control technique where a set
of microfluidic manipulations are carried
out in a preprogrammed sequence. The
microfluidic operations and their sequence
are determined primarily by the structural
arrangement of the system without the
need for an external control signal
 Biosensors
 A biosensor is a device for the detection of an analyte
that combines a biological component with a
physicochemical detector component.
 It consists of 3 parts:
a) the sensitive biological element or biological material
(eg. tissue, microorganisms, cell receptors, enzymes,
antibodies, nucleic acids, etc).The sensitive elements
can be created by biological engineering.
b) the transducer or the detector element transforms the
signal resulting from the interaction of the analyte with
the biological element into another signal that can be
more easily measured and quantified. The transducer
may work in a physicochemical, optical, piezoelectric,
electrochemical way.
c) associated electronics or signal processors that is
primarily responsible for the display of the results in a
user-friendly way.
 Biosensor Arrays
 For simultaneous measurement of
glucose, lactate, glutamine, and glutamate
an array of Biosensors is implemented and
this is called a biosensor array
 Portable Blood analyzer
 The analyzer takes a small quantity of
blood sample and with the help of smart
passive microfluidic manipulation enters
the biosensing area where application
specific biosensors are used to do the
required analysis. This information is sent
to the ASIC from where results are
displayed on an LCD. All this on a hand
held device therefore portable
 Principle of operation
 Blood sample loaded via microneedles
 Sample fills up microdispenser reservoir
 Air pressure applied (using air bursting
detonators) so liquid travels down the
winding channels.
 Liquid enters multiplexer where division of
sample done to deliver to biosensor
reservoir
 Bio sensors mounted on top of each
reservoir
 Measurement cycle initiated and
concentrations of analytes measured.
 Electrical signals sent to ASIC Module for
results
Lab-0n-Chip Operation
Schematic of Lab-on-Chip
ABBOTT LABS
 Materials Used
 Cyclic Olefin Copolymer (COC) is an
amorphous polymer made by several
polymer manufacturers. COC is a relatively
new class of polymers when compared to
polypropylene and polyethylene. This
material is primarily used in applications
requiring glass-like clarity including lenses,
vials, monitors, and medical devices. In
medical applications, COC is noted to be a
high purity product with low extractables.
COC is also a halogen-free product
 Silicon- used for the semi permeable
membrane as it has low permeability and
low signal to noise ratio
 Polyurethane- used for the semi-
permeable membrane of glucose/lactate
sensor
 Fabrication Process
 Combination of polymer processing
techniques used
replaceable mold disk technique
plasma treatment with reactive ion
etching
thermoplastic fusing bonding
spin coating
screen printing