SHF: Small:Design Tools and Optimization Methods for Digital Microfluidic Biochips

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

Advances in digital microfluidics have led to the promise of biochips for applications such as point-of-care medical diagnostics. These devices enable the precise control of nanoliter droplets of biochemical samples and reagents. Therefore, integrated circuit (IC) technology can be used to transport and process "biochemical payload" in the form of nanoliter/picoliter droplets. As a result, non-traditional biomedical applications and markets are opening up fundamentally new uses for ICs. The goal of this project is to develop a design-automation infrastructure for reconfigurable microfluidic biochips. It envisions an automated design flow that will transform biochip research and their use, in the same way as design automation revolutionized IC design in the 80s and 90s. Design tools and optimization methods are being developed to ensure that biochips are as versatile as the macro-labs that they are intended to replace. The results from this research will enable a "panel" of concurrent immunoassay-based diagnostic tests on an integrated microfluidic processor biochip that can be "user-programmed", and which can provide results in real-time with picoliter sample/reagent volumes. Specific research tasks include control-path synthesis and microcontroller/microfluidics integration, chip optimization for multiplexed immunoassays, microfluidic logic gates for smart decision-making, and design for testability. Miniaturized and low-cost biochips will revolutionize data analysis for air quality studies and clinical diagnostics, enabling a transformation in environmental monitoring, healthcare, exposure assessment, and emergency response. This project is especially aligned with the vision of functional diversification and "More than Moore", as articulated in the ITRS 2007, which highlights "Medical" as a "System Driver" for the future. The project bridges several research communities, e.g., microfluidics, electronic design automation, and biochemistry, and it provides interdisciplinary education to graduate and undergraduate students.