VOLUME 7, ISSUE 3, JUNE 2013

TECHNOLOGY NEWS


Intelligent Digital Microfluidic (DMF) Technology - A Multi-Disciplinary Approach

A group of engineers from the State-Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI, University of Macau, China, cooperated with a group of chemists from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, China, developed an intelligent digital microfluidic (DMF)1 technology unifying engineering physics, material science, biochemistry, mixed-signal circuits and systems, as well as advanced control theory to address the intricacy of large-scale microreactors, which could underpin a wide variety of chemical/biological applications in extremely small volumes such as molecular probes synthesis, proteomics, immunoassays, enzyme assays, clinical diagnostics, DNA sample processing and cell-based assays. The first milestone of this technology is a successful validation of a wide variety of control-engaged droplet manageability such as:

  1. •Profiling of different droplet’s hydrodynamics under real-time trajectory track of droplet-derived capacitance, permitting autonomous multi-droplet positioning without visual setup and heavy image signal processing;

  2. •Fuzzy-based adaptability of electrode’s charging time, enhancing the throughput, fidelity and lifetime of the DMF chip, while identifying and renouncing those weakened electrodes that are deteriorated over time;

  3. •Expert controllability of multi-droplet routings under counter-measure decisions, preventing droplet-to-droplet or task-to-task interference in real time.

Taken together this work signifies the state-of-the-art most-autonomous DMF module2 with well-built intelligence, getting one step closer to being manufacturable for a wide multiplicity of life science analyses and combinatorial chemical screening applications.

Further information:

Movie 1: http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/lc/c2/c2lc41156c/c2lc41156c.mov

Movie 2: http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/lc/c2/c2lc41156c/c2lc41156c_2.mov

Movie 3: http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/lc/c2/c2lc41156c/c2lc41156c_3.mov


Elvis Pui-In Mak and Rui P. Martins (Email: pimak@umac.mo)

State-Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI, University of Macau, China


1 DMF belongs to a class of two-dimensional plane or curved-geometry electronic control system with the electrodes coated with dielectric and hydrophobic materials. Manipulation of droplet is achieved via surface-tension modulation induced by electric field. Its open structure (i.e., no preset microchannel) and high compatibility with diverse aqueous, organic or ionic liquids, advance it over the traditional channel microfluidics in terms of flexibility and reusability to cope with different operational protocols in one unified platform.

2 Jie Gao, et al., “An Intelligent Digital Microfluidic System with Fuzzy-Enhanced Feedback for Multi-Droplet Manipulation,” Lab on a Chip, Issue 3, pp. 443-451, 2013.