数字微流控生化芯片多液滴稀释方法的研究

Dilution and mixing optimization for digital microfluidic biochips

生化试验中如何将样品试剂配备过程转化成有效的数字生化芯片实现的协议,并给出相应的操作过程中的稀释/混合操作优化算法非常关键,是样品试剂配备过程的一个挑战。为减少操作步骤和节省药品,提出针对数字微流控生物芯片多液滴混合器稀释/混合操作优化算法,该算法允许多个液体参与混合分离操作,可以在误差允许范围内利用片上多液滴混合器用较少的操作步骤获得目标浓度的液滴。相对传统的两液滴混合方法,减少了稀疏/混合的步骤和稀释/混合时间,同时减少中间废弃液滴的数目。实验结果也表明可以在允许的误差范围内高效地进行混合/分离操作,获得目标浓度的液滴。

Digital microfluidic （DMF）-based biochips are a promising category of lab-on-chips （LOCs）, in which nanoliter-volume fluid droplets are manipulated on a 2-D electrode array. A key chal- lenge in designing such chips and mapping lab-bench protocols to a LOC is to carry out the dilution process of biochemical samples efficiently. We present a solution preparation on the digital microfluidic biochips according to the mixer sources on the chips, and propose the corresponding dilution/mixing al- gorithm. The production of waste droplets and the error in concentration factor are discussed in the pa- per. Simulation results show that the proposed technique can make solution preparation efficiently and accurately.