Microfluidics is moving from the realm of academia—where it has been a technology looking for a problem to solve—and becoming an enabling technology for practical lab-on-a-chip devices. That's according to Dr. Holger Becker, the co-founder and chief scientific officer of microfluidic ChipShop GmbH. Speaking April 26 at BOIMEDevice Boston, he noted that there are challenges ahead for the technology: markets are fragmented, standardization efforts are ongoing, and customers may hesitate to adopt new technologies. Becker recommended targeting high-value market entry points, noting that the now ubiquitous airbags first appeared in Mercedes, not Volkswagens.
Becker described the necessary steps a lab on a chip performs: sample interface, preparation, amplification, separation, detection, and on-chip waste storage. He cited differences between microfluidics and microelectronics. Alluding to semiconductor structural test, he said that a transistor doesn't care where its gate signal comes from, and its behavior can be tested in isolation from other on-chip components. That's not the case for microfluidics, he said, noting that complex interaction of the different segments of a lab on a chip necessitate a combination of top-down and bottom-up system-level analysis and functional verification.
Noting that sample preparation has been a bottleneck for the complete integration of nucleic-acid based protocols on microfluidic devices, Becker presented a case study describing a portable system for identifying eight biological pathogens. He described process steps including lysis of bacteria and nucleic-acid capture on magnetic beads, with such steps integrated with downstream processes like PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and detection. He noted that for the device he described, reagents are stored not on chip but rather in 500-µl tanks that clip onto the chip.
For companies looking to build lab-on-a-chip devices, Becker recommended employing scalable manufacturing techniques, adding that manufacturing personnel should be involved early in the process.
He concluded with a picture of Star Trek's Spock holding a tricorder, suggesting that fictional instrument's analytical capabilities will soon be enabled in the real world via lab-on-chip technology.