Lab-on-a-chip devices are microfluidics-based systems that integrate multiple laboratory-like functions onto a single chip. They could lead to a pinhead-sized implant that can instantly detect pathogenic bacteria or biochemicals in the bloodstream. Lab-on-a-chip research is a subset of MEMS and has many components that have emerged from MEMS research. The small size of the lab-on-a-chip allows for mass production and a reduced need for expensive substances. In the future, lab-on-a-chip systems could even be integrated into familiar devices like laptop computers.
Lab-on-a-chip devices, more formally known as “Micro Total Analysis Systems” (µTAS) are microfluidics-based systems that integrate multiple laboratory-like functions onto a single chip only a few centimeters in size. Among their uses are real-time polymerase chain reactions (used to amplify small strands of DNA in more manageable samples), immunoassays, which diagnose diseases based on the presence of antigens/antibodies, dielectrophoresis, used to detect certain cell types and blood sample preparation such as DNA extraction from red blood cells.
Lab-on-a-chip devices could one day lead to a pinhead-sized implant or skin-mounted device that can almost instantly detect the presence of pathogenic bacteria or biochemicals in the bloodstream. In the future, doctors may be able to diagnose quickly and accurately using the information transmitted by such a device. Lab-on-a-chip technology has been around since the 1980s and even, in precursor form, the late 1970s, but it wasn’t until the explosion of biotechnology in the mid-1990s that they started to attract the attention of mainstream scientists.
Lab-on-a-chip devices are a case in point of the ongoing miniaturization happening with many technologies, from computer chips to communication devices like cell phones. Lab-on-a-chip research can be considered a subset of MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) and contains many components that have emerged from MEMS research: micropumps, capillaries, valves, sensors, levers, and so on. One of the biggest advantages of the lab-on-a-chip is its small size, which allows for mass production and a reduced need for expensive substances sometimes required for some types of lab work. However, there are numerous challenges with scaling traditional chemistry principles, meaning lab-on-a-chip systems may require a redesign to match the functionality of their larger cousins.
In the not-so-distant future, lab-on-a-chip systems could even be integrated into familiar devices like laptop computers, allowing chemistry and biology students to play with scientific instruments outside the traditional confines of the classroom. laboratory. In recent years, a number of conferences on the topic of labs-on-a-chip have sprung up, and while the technology is still in its infancy, tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars around the world are being invested in improving it.
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