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A lab-on-a-chip that takes the chip out of the lab

A microfluidic system achieves miniaturization without the need for extra equipment, bringing chip-based devices closer to mainstream commercial reality, with a framework that could be widely applied to diagnostics.
  1. Mazher Iqbal Mohammed

    1. Mazher Iqbal Mohammed is in the School of Design and Creative Arts, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK.

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Lab-on-a-chip systems aim to encapsulate the capabilities of a laboratory in a single miniaturized device for use in medical diagnostics, biomedical tissue engineering and environmental sampling1. But such systems typically require bulky ancillary equipment, such as fluidic pumps, microscopes and high-voltage power supplies, earning them the tongue-in-cheek name ‘chip in a lab’. Writing in Nature, Yafia et al.2 report a lab-on-a-chip system that can be easily 3D printed and requires only a smartphone, which is used as a photodetector. Together, the device and phone can test human saliva for a range of biological targets, including the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

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Nature 605, 429-430 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01299-6

References

  1. Reyes, D. R., Iossifidis, D., Auroux, P.-A. & Manz, A. Anal. Chem. 74, 2623–2636 (2002).

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  2. Yafia, M. et al. Nature 605, 464–469 (2022).

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  3. Terry, S. C., Jerman, J. H. & Angell, J. B. IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 26, 1880–1886 (1979).

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  4. Mohammed, M. I., Haswell, S. & Gibson, I. Proc. Technol. 20, 54–59 (2015).

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  5. Martinez, A. W., Phillips, S. T. & Whitesides, G. M. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 19606–19611 (2008 ).

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  6. Mohammed, M. I. & Desmulliez, M. P. Y. Biosens. Bioelectron. 61, 478–484 (2014).

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  7. Olanrewaju, A. O. A., Robillard, A., Dagher, M. & Juncker, D. Lab Chip 16, 3804–3814 (2016).

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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