A lab on a chip (LOC) is a microfluidic platform that incorporates various laboratory functions. Minimizing laboratory processes to the micro-scale has many advantages for testing and monitoring processes in the medical, pharmaceutical and life sciences fields. Lab on a chip technology is also used in agricultural and environmental procedures and in food safety tests.
The purpose of lab on a chip technology
What are the benefits of converting conventional lab processes to a lab on a chip? Let’s take a closer look at four major advantages of LOC technology.
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Miniaturization
The main advantage of all the pluses of a lab on a chip assay is its reduced size. By miniaturizing the total assay workflow, less sample material is needed and the reaction and analysis times are shorter. Performing a test on an LOC is therefore faster and more efficient.
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Assay workflow automation
When several laboratory steps are incorporated on a lab on a chip platform in sequence, this leads to an automated execution of the complete test. Assay workflow automation is a great advantage because it fully relies on pre-set specifications and thus eliminates the risk of human errors.
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High throughput screening
Labs on chips are, due to their reduced size, ideally suited to be performed in parallel. This creates opportunities for high-throughput screening: simultaneously running multiple equal tests on one device. Large-scale screening of biological compounds can greatly accelerate processes in the fields of drug discovery and virus testing.
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Point-of-care
Finally, let’s not forget point-of-care as a rapidly evolving trend in healthcare. Point-of-care means that tests and treatments are carried out directly at the required location. Lab on a chip technology offers excellent opportunities for this. All elements that are required to perform a test are available on the few square inches of the platform. The total assay can be completed on-site in a fast and efficient manner. This abolishes the need to send sample material and test results back and forth to a lab.
Lab on a chip product manufacturing
Micronit is a unique partner in lab on a chip product development and manufacturing. We have the capabilities to process glass, silicon, polymer and hybrid combinations. These are all materials that are typically used in the production of microfluidics-based devices.
High-end labs on chips are mostly manufactured in glass. Glass offers the best optical transparency, chemical inertness and surface flatness. However, if structures with high aspect ratios are required (i.e., very deep and narrow channels), silicon is a more suitable substrate material. In our cleanroom we have the dry etching techniques in place to create these high aspect ratio structures in silicon.
Currently, there is a large demand for labs on chips in polymer. Polymer is by far the least expensive material of the three and is therefore mostly used for lab on a chip disposables. The most used processing techniques for polymer labs on chips are micromilling and replication. These techniques are relatively simple compared to the processing of glass and silicon.