Design and development of a portable microfluidic system for medical diagnostics

Advancement of microfabrication technology in the past few decades has enabled miniaturization and large-scale integration of complex systems. One such example is the microfluidic lab-on-a-chip (LOC). Microfluidic technology promises to automate macroscale, benchtop laboratory protocols and encapsulate them in low cost, portable systems. These systems benefit from reduced consumption of expensive reagents, precise manipulation of volumes of fluid as small as a few picoliters, batch fabrication, and the ability to analyze a sample closer to the length-scale of the subjects of interest (e.g., cells, protein, DNA). LOCs have the potential to dramatically change the way biochemical analysis is performed for clinical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, pharmaceutical drug discovery, and chemical synthesis.; In this work I present my research towards the development of a portable LOC system for medical diagnostics. A modular microfluidic LOC architecture is presented along with its implementation in two successive generations of devices. The architecture allows for rapid prototyping and simple design changes at low cost. Next, the design, fabrication, and characterization of a latchable microvalve is presented. Such a valve would be quite useful in a portable LOC for fluid storage and low power operation. Finally, I present my work towards realizing a portable instrument that interfaces directly with an LOC to create a simplified user interface. The goal of this research is to take microfluidic LOC technology to the next level where it can move out of the engineering lab and into the hands of the ultimate users (i.e., doctors, biologists, chemists).