Advances in Testing Techniques for Digital Microfluidic Biochips

Abstract

With the advancement of digital microfluidics technology, applications such as on-chip DNA analysis, point of care diagnosis and automated drug discovery are common nowadays. The use of Digital Microfluidics Biochips (DMFBs) in disease assessment and recognition of target molecules had become popular during the past few years. The reliability of these DMFBs is crucial when they are used in various medical applications. Errors found in these biochips are mainly due to the defects developed during droplet manipulation, chip degradation and inaccuracies in the bio-assay experiments. The recently proposed Micro-electrode-dot Array (MEDA)-based DMFBs involve both fluidic and electronic domains in the micro-electrode cell. Thus, the testing techniques for these biochips should be revised in order to ensure proper functionality. This paper describes recent advances in the testing technologies for digital microfluidics biochips, which would serve as a useful platform for developing revised/new testing techniques for MEDA-based biochips. Therefore, the relevancy of these techniques with respect to testing of MEDA-based biochips is analyzed in order to exploit the full potential of these biochips.

A Molecularly Imprinted Polymer-based Dye Displacement Assay for the Rapid Visual Detection of Amphetamine in Urine

“…This time would be decreased in a real-world setting with the amount of SDC MIP powder already weighed, and a solution could be engineered towards the rapid filtration of the mixture. When compared to other methods of analysis this is still very fast, with other rapid methods taking around 5 min (longer for more sensitive methods such as HPLC/mass spectroscopy) [ 43 , 44 ]. This is a distinct commercial benefit as it shows that the MIP-based assay can compete in a field where the rapidness of analysis is essential.…”

Pin Addressing Method Based on an SVM With a Reliability Constraint in Digital Microfluidic Biochips

“…Traditional clinical disease detection usually relies on large testing equipment at a testing center, which not only takes a long time to detect diseases but also consumes a large amount of reagents and attracts great controversy due to the need to collect many biological specimens such as blood [2]. With continuing innovations in manufacturing and packaging processes, modern microelectromechanical systems (MEMSs) and microfluidic systems are being applied to combine many chemical, mechanical, or electrical devices into a single package [3][4][5][6][7]. A microfluidic chip can provide detection results in a short time by using a small number of samples, and it has a high detection sensitivity, good specificity, a simple operation process and short cycles; it has become one of the best solutions to the current problem [8].…”

Diseño, fabricación, caracterización y validación de una plataforma integrada y modular para la amplificación de secuencias específicas de ADN por PCR basada en dispositivos de microfluídica digital

“…La Tabla 3. 4 resume algunos de los fallos que pueden sufrir los dispositivos DMF, así como las causas, cómo se puede detectar el fallo y el dominio afectado por el mismo (Shukla et al, 2017).…”