Low-cost Diagnostics with bioMEMS – Unconventional Methods and Materials

The lab-on-chip concept has created miniature devices for the study of phenomena and the performance of tasks in physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine. But lab-on-chip devices can deliver more than just a miniaturization of conventional laboratory methods; rather, effects that scale favorably at micrometer dimensions can be exploited for simplified operation and reduced cost.
We present several examples, including the manipulation of multiple droplets in parallel on "texture gradients" and "texture ratchets", which use vibration as driving force; and the extraction of DNA from raw samples in "microfluidic origami", which rely on capillarity and folding instead of pumps and valves.

Speaker: Prof. Karl Böhringer, Univ. of Washington, Electrical Engineering

Room 390