CPS: Synergy: Collaborative Research: Cyber-physical digital microfluidics based on active matrix electrowetting technology: software-programmable high-density pixel arrays

片上自动化（LoC）技术有望通过开发低成本、自动化的床旁检测设备来改善全球健康状况。在医疗资源匮乏的国家，诊所通常有治疗疾病的药物，但缺乏诊断工具来识别需要它们的患者。为了实现低成本的诊断与最小的实验室支持，该项目将研究特定领域的LoC编程语言和编译器设计与设备制造技术（工艺流程，传感器集成等）。该项目最终将建立一个工作LoC，通过主机PC提供的电子信号控制流体运动;法医毒理学免疫测定将在软件中编程并在设备上执行。该实验将证明可编程LoC技术的优势，包括小型化（减少试剂消耗）、自动化（降低成本和与人类互动相关的不确定性）和通用软件可编程性（设备可以执行各种生化反应，所有这些都在软件中指定）。复制器械所需的信息以及通过本研究工作开发的所有软件工件沿着将公开传播。这将促进软件可编程LoC技术在生物科学研究人员中的广泛使用，沿着公共和工业部门，包括医疗保健和公共卫生，生物技术，供水管理，环境毒性监测等。本项目设计并实现了一个软件可编程的网络物理芯片实验室（LoC），可以执行各种生物协议。通过在制造过程中集成传感器，LoC获得了向PC控制器实时发送反馈的能力，然后PC控制器可以做出关于下一步执行哪些生物操作的智能决策。为了实现这个创新和变革性的平台，该项目解决了几个艰巨的研究挑战：（1）网络物理LoC编程模型和编译器设计;（2）LoC制造，包括工艺流程和网络物理传感器集成;以及（3）依赖于网络物理感官反馈和实时决策的LoC应用。通过构建一个工作原型LoC，并编程一个代表性的反馈驱动的法医毒理学免疫分析，该项目表明，所提出的系统可以自动执行需要一个闭环反馈回路的生化反应。拟议工作的预期更广泛的影响包括降低成本和提高临床诊断的可靠性，与使用LoC技术的美国公司的接触，研究生和本科生的培训，针对妇女和代表性不足的少数民族的参与和保留工作的增加，学生促进的同伴教育在加州大学滨江，田纳西大学为代表性不足的少数民族高中生开设的暑期住宿项目，与橡树岭国家实验室的研究人员合作，以及创作、演示、和传播教程材料，以促进在更广泛的科学界采用和使用软件可编程的LoCs。

Laboratory-on-a-chip (LoC) technology is poised to improve global health through development of low-cost, automated point-of-care testing devices. In countries with few healthcare resources, clinics often have drugs to treat an illness, but lack diagnostic tools to identify patients who need them. To enable low-cost diagnostics with minimal laboratory support, this project will investigate domain-specific LoC programming language and compiler design in conjunction with device fabrication technologies (process flows, sensor integration, etc.). The project will culminate by building a working LoC that controls fluid motion through electronic signals supplied by a host PC; a forensic toxicology immunoassay will be programmed in software and executed on the device. This experiment will demonstrate benefits of programmable LoC technology including miniaturization (reduced reagent consumption), automation (reduced costs and uncertainties associated with human interaction), and general-purpose software-programmability (the device can execute a wide variety of biochemical reactions, all specified in software). Information necessary to reproduce the device, along with all software artifacts developed through this research effort, will be publicly disseminated. This will promote widespread usage of software-programmable LoC technology among researchers in the biological sciences, along with public and industrial sectors including healthcare and public health, biotechnology, water supply management, environmental toxicity monitoring, and many others.This project designs and implements a software-programmable cyber-physical laboratory-on-a-chip (LoC) that can execute a wide variety of biological protocols. By integrating sensors during fabrication, the LoC obtains the capability to send feedback in real-time to the PC controller, which can then make intelligent decisions regarding which biological operations to execute next. To bring this innovative and transformative platform to fruition, the project tackles several formidable research challenges: (1) cyber-physical LoC programming models and compiler design; (2) LoC fabrication, including process flows and cyber-physical sensor integration; and (3) LoC applications that rely on cyber-physical sensory feedback and real-time decision-making. By constructing a working prototype LoC, and programming a representative feedback-driven forensic toxicology immunoassay, the project demonstrates that the proposed system can automatically execute biochemical reactions that require a closed feedback loop. Expected broader impacts of the proposed work include reduced cost and increased reliability of clinical diagnostics, engagement with U.S. companies that use LoC technology, training of graduate and undergraduate students, increased engagement and retention efforts targeting women and underrepresented minorities, student-facilitated peer-instruction at UC Riverside, a summer residential program for underrepresented minority high-school students at the University of Tennessee, collaborations with researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and creation, presentation, and dissemination of tutorial materials to promote the adoption and use of software-programmable LoCs among the wider scientific community.