ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes a scheme for incorporating defect tolerance in the design of digital microfluidic biochips. It introduces a new design based on hexagonal electrodes and various defect-tolerant designs with different levels of redundancy. The chapter evaluates the defect tolerance of these designs. It examines the proposed yield improvement methodology by multiplexed in vitro diagnostics on human physiological fluids. The chapter reviews a new space redundancy approach, termed interstitial redundancy, In order to address the problems resulting from microfluidic locality. In the latest generation of microfluidic biochips, hexagonal electrodes are being used to replace the conventional square electrodes design; this close-packed design is expected to increase the effectiveness of droplet transportation in a 2-D array. Low yield, which is expected to be a consequence of increased area and density of biochips, will be a deterrent to high-volume production, and it will increase production cost.
