ABSTRACT

In its initial stages of development, the ‰eld of microuidics was propelled forward primarily by an interest in engineering lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices. Moreover, such devices were desired to facilitate rapid, on-site clinical analysis of biological uids. Implementing LOC devices that operate with minute quantities of uids reduced the volumes of costly reagents and analytes along with the processing time. Because of these advantages, miniaturized on-chip systems have been developed for manipulating uids, mixing, sorting and transporting cells, conducting reactions, and analyzing results. The advent of LOC devices has allowed multistep, analytical processes previously conducted using a variety of benchtop apparatus to be integrated and automated on chip. This reduces the opportunity for mistakes due to user error. As a result of this research, sophisticated systems for applications including disease diagnostics, DNA analysis, and environmental sensors have been implemented.