CRI: IAD: A Digital Microfluidic Testbed for Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Screening

能够进行快速自动化生化分析的低成本便携式芯片实验室系统可以影响广泛的应用，包括遗传分析(医学诊断、新生儿筛查、DNA指纹识别)、生物研究(基因组学、蛋白质组学、糖组学、药物发现)、体外生物分子生产(如肝素)和生化传感(病原体检测、空气和水监测、化学爆炸物检测)。在为数字微流控系统(DMFS)的设计、模拟和性能评估开发算法和计算工具方面出现了一个新的机会，DMF是一类操作离散液滴的改变范式的芯片实验室系统。拟议的研究将开发专门的路线和调度算法，以协调DMFS上的液滴。该团队将制定通用原则，以设计可扩展的网格布局，并协调跨不同硬件实现的水滴。这些算法将实现数字微流控系统的强大和用户友好的操作，为最终用户提供巨大的灵活性，并能够对反应进行前所未有的空间和时间控制。这项研究将使可重构的单芯片实验室系统能够用于广泛的应用，包括生物危害检测、临床诊断和环境监测。它可能会导致合成肝素的更有效的方法，肝素是一种具有重要治疗意义的化合物，并可能导致对新生儿的护理点筛查。拟议的研究将让研究生参与研究，并将纳入私人投资促进机构教授的研究生课程。外展活动包括课后乐高机器人活动和中学生暑期机器人夏令营，与RPI的大学前教育倡议中心合作。

Low-cost, portable lab-on-a-chip systems capable of rapid automated biochemical analysis can impact a wide variety of applications including genetic analysis (medical diagnostics, newborn screening, DNA fingerprinting), biological research (genomics, proteomics, glycomics, drug discovery), in vitro biomolecule production (e.g., heparin), and biochemical sensing (pathogen detection, air and water monitoring, chemical explosives detection). There is an emerging opportunity in developing algorithms and computational tools for the design, simulation, and performance evaluation of digital microfluidics systems (DMFS), a paradigm changing class of lab-on-a-chip systems that manipulate discrete droplets. The proposed research will develop specialized routing and scheduling algorithms for the coordination of droplets on a DMFS. The team will develop general principles for designing scalable grid layouts and coordinating droplets that work across different hardware implementations. The algorithms will enable robust and user friendly operation of digital microfluidics systems, offering end users tremendous flexibility and the ability to exercise unprecedented spatial and temporal control over reactions. This research will enable reconfigurable lab-on-a-chip systems for use in a wide variety of applications including biohazard detection, clinical diagnostics, and environmental monitoring. It can potentially lead to more effective ways of synthesizing heparin, a therapeutically important compound, and point-of-care newborn screening. The proposed research will involve graduate students in research, and will be integrated into graduate courses taught by the PIs. Outreach activities include after-school Lego robotics activities and summer robotics camps for middle school students in collaboration with RPI's Center for Initiatives in Pre-College Education.