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Rapid Fabrication of Custom Microfluidic Devices for Research and Educational Applications
Published on: November 20, 2019
Microfluidic large-scale integration: the evolution of design rules for biological automation
Jessica Melin1, Stephen R Quake
1Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford, California 94305, USA. melin@stanford.edu
Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure
|February 3, 2007
Summary
Microfluidic large-scale integration (mLSI) offers advanced automation for biology and chemistry. This review covers mLSI design, capabilities, and applications, highlighting its potential to replace conventional fluid-handling robots.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Chemical Engineering
- Automation Technology
Background:
- Microfluidic large-scale integration (mLSI) involves creating microfluidic chips with numerous integrated micromechanical valves and control elements.
- mLSI is a promising technology for automating processes in biology and chemistry, potentially supplanting traditional fluid-handling robots.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the fundamental development of mLSI.
- To discuss mLSI design principles, assessing current capabilities and limitations.
- To facilitate the application of mLSI in biological research and development.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on microfluidic large-scale integration.
- Analysis of design principles for mLSI systems.
- Discussion of practical considerations for implementing mLSI.
Main Results:
- mLSI technology enables high levels of integration and automation on a microfluidic chip.
- Key design and practical issues such as economies of scale, parallelization, multiplexing, and multistep biochemical processing are critical for mLSI development.
- Various microfluidic components serve as essential building blocks for complex mLSI networks.
Conclusions:
- mLSI represents a significant advancement in microfluidic automation.
- Understanding mLSI design principles is crucial for its effective application in biology.
- The technology holds potential for revolutionizing automated biological and chemical processes.
