ABSTRACT
The term “lab-on-a-chip” (LOC) and micro total analysis systems (μTAS) are a subset of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) dedicated to chemical and biological analyses and discoveries. The first example of a miniaturized LOC was created in the late 1970s by S. Terry at Stanford University [1]. The device was a gas chromatographic analyzer that combined an injection valve, a separation column, and a thermal-conductivity detector on the surface of a single silicon wafer (5 cm in diameter). It could separate gaseous mixtures of hydrocarbons in less than 10 seconds (Figure 5.1).
