Labs-on-a-chip are used in biotechnology and the field of microfluidics, but are expensive to utilize because each new device must be built from scratch, taking weeks of effort and re-design. However, chemical engineering and materials science professor Noah Malmstadt and his team have successfully designed and created "modular fluidic and instrumentation components" that snap together and apart as easily as LEGO blocks, which makes building these labs-on-a-chip quick, cheap, and easy!
Below is a sampling of recent of media articles about this research.
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With their ability to guide and analyze tiny quantities of liquid, microfluidic "lab-on-chip" devices have found use in everything from seawater desalination to explosives detection to the viewing of viruses. Each time a new type of device is created, however, it must be built from scratch. This can be time-consuming and costly, as the fabrication of multiple prototypes is a traditional part of the trial-and-error development process. Now, however, building them may be as simple as mixing and matching prefabricated Lego-like modules. (View article) |
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Drawing inspiration from LEGO® building blocks, researchers have developed a new type of component that makes it possible to construct a 3D microfluidic system by simply snapping together small modules by hand. (View article) |
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Thanks to new LEGO-like components developed by researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, it is now possible to build a 3-D microfluidic system quickly and cheaply by simply snapping together small modules by hand. (View article) |
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Thanks to new LEGO-like components developed by researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, it is now possible to build a 3-D microfluidic system quickly and cheaply by simply snapping together small modules by hand. (View article) |
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Inspired by high-resolution 3D printing, an Indian-origin engineer has developed lego-like modular components that will build a 3D microfluidic system quickly and cheaply by simply snapping together small modules by hand. (View article) |
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Microfluidic systems are used in many fields including engineering, chemistry and biotechnology to precisely manipulate small volumes of fluids for use in applications such as enzymatic or DNA analysis, pathogen detection, clinical diagnostic testing, and synthetic chemistry. Traditionally, microfluidic devices are built in a cleanroom on a two-dimensional surface using the same technology developed to produce integrated circuits for the electronics industry. (View article) |
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Microfluidic systems promise to bring the same level of precision and control seen in the electronics industry to chemistry and the life sciences. Typically, devices are fabricated at substantial cost and using borrowed techniques from the semiconductor industry. Researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering have invented a system of discrete microfluidic elements akin to those found in electronic board design. (View article) |
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With Internet of Things redefining our daily lives, it is not just interesting but inevitable to predict the future of technology. It will especially be exciting to understand what impact tech advances will have on our routine, on our jobs, families, etc. (View article) |
