SBIR Phase I: Automatic, User-Programmable Variable Volume Mixing for General-Purpose Programmable Lab-on-a-Chip

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目解决了在通用可编程芯片实验室设备（GPLoCs）的背景下实现微流体规模可变体积流体混合的挑战。直接支持可变体积混合是GPLoC的基础，因为GPLoC可以被编程以执行多个测定，其中每个测定可能需要任意混合比。虽然固定体积流体操纵在文献中得到了很好的研究，但可变体积流体操纵还没有得到很好的理解。为了实现可变体积操作，该项目确定并瞄准了四个关键目标：（a）段塞间气隙消除，（B）均匀混合，（c）可变体积吹扫，以及（d）支持极端混合比。此外，该项目的主要目标之一是使可变体积混合的整个过程自动化。拟议的研究目标是所有上述目标的创新，在硬件（新的机制，流体输送，计量和清洗）和软件（软件排序的极端比例混合）。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力来自于成功的可变体积操作直接使GPLoC成为可能，这有可能产生深远的科学，商业和社会影响。GPLoC可以更快地进行实验和检测开发，这可以在蛋白质组学、基因组学、免疫学、药物发现和生物化学领域产生重大的科学影响。此外，由于GPLoC可以缩短新检测的上市时间，因此它有可能吸引商业检测供应商使用GPLoC平台，从而增强其商业潜力。在社会方面，GPLoCs可以大大降低家庭诊断实验室的成本。此外，GPLoC中固有的自动化将使GPLoC更容易被非技术人员使用（即，家庭用户）。增强的可用性和较低的成本相结合，有可能扩大在国内获得复杂的测定。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the challenge of achieving variable volume fluid mixing at the microfluidic scale in the context of general-purpose programmable lab-on-a-chip devices (GPLoCs). Directly supporting variable volume mixing is fundamental to GPLoCs because GPLoCs may be programmed to perform multiple assays, where each assay may require arbitrary mix ratios. While fixed-volume fluid manipulation is well-studied in the literature, variable-volume fluid manipulation is not well understood. To enable variable volume manipulation, this project identifies and targets four key objectives: (a) inter-slug air gap elimination, (b) homogeneous mixing, (c) variable volume purging, and (d) support for extreme mix ratios. Further, one of the key goals of this project is to automate the entire process of variable volume mixing. The proposed research targets all the above objectives with innovations in hardware (novel mechanisms for fluid transport, metering, and purging) and software (software sequencing for extreme ratio mixing). The broader impact/commercial potential of this project derives from the fact that successful variable volume manipulation directly enables GPLoCs, which have the potential to have far-reaching scientific, commercial and societal impact. GPLoCs enable faster experimentation and assay development, which can have significant scientific impact in the fields of proteomics, genomics, immunology, drug discovery, and biochemistry. Further, because GPLoCs can reduce the time-to-market for new assays, it has the potential to attract commercial assay vendors to the GPLoC platform, enhancing its commercial potential. On the societal front, GPLoCs could dramatically lower the costs of home diagnostic labs. Moreover, the automation inherent in GPLoCs would make GPLoCs more easily used by non-technicians (i.e., by home users). The combination of enhanced usability and lower costs has the potential to broaden access to sophisticated assays at home.