Routing and Performance Optimization of Digital Microfluidic Biochip

Digital Microfluidic Biochips or DMFBs have emerged as a great alternative to various in-vitro diagnostic tests in recent past. These chips are expected to be closely coupled up with cyberphysical systems and with other healthcare-related systems in the near future. Hence, design optimization of such micro or nano-scale DMFB requires interdisciplinary study of computer science, electronics along with biochemistry and medical technology. Research in this new discipline of nano-biotechnology needs the integration of diverse fields such as microelectronics, biochemistry, in-vitro diagnostics, computer-aided design and optimization, fabrication technology in association with healthcare engineering methodologies.

Potential applications of DMFBs include several real-life applications such as point-of-care clinical diagnostics, enzymatic analysis (e.g., glucose and lactate assays), high-throughput DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) sequencing, immunoassay, proteomics (study of protein structure) and environmental toxicity monitoring, water and air pollutant detection, or food processing and so on and so forth. These LoC systems provide a viable and low-cost platform for rapid, automated and accurate clinical diagnosis of various diseases including malaria, neglected tropical diseases (NTD) prevalent in the developing countries. Typically, a microfluidic-based chip implements one or more complex bioassays (bio protocols) by manipulating nanolitre or picoliter volume of fluids on a single chip of a few square centimeters in size.