High throughput liquid handling platform using open-space microfluidics

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Mixing, sampling, or delivering precise volumes of liquid is at the core of a profusion of laboratory experiments in academia and industry. It can range from analyzing soil content to precisely measuring the virus load in a nasal swab. For applications where precision or automatization is required, robotic liquid handlers have been adopted to replace the manual steps of adding or removing liquids. However, these robotic liquid handlers are nothing more than robots moving pipettes around and have the same limitations of standard pipettes. Microfluidics, a field of study where precise and small volumes of fluids are controlled at the microscale, is poised to overcome this "tyranny of pipetting" in high throughput experiments. Standard microfluidic devices utilize channels to guide fluids. An emerging subfield of microfluidics, named open-space microfluidics, takes advantage of open channel geometries to confine and control liquids without "walls". In this project, we propose to assemble a liquid handling platform using open-space microfluidics based upon previous technological developments made by our team. By using this unique system, new applications and new areas of discovery will be explored in the field of high throughput cell processing and gene transfection, such as studying the effect of dynamically stimulating cell signaling pathways as well as in the field on oncology by performing high throughput organ-on-chip and ex vivo tissue on chip perfusion and treatment. Being able to assemble this liquid handling platform will be essential to support current researchers in open-space microfluidics and high throughput screening at Polytechnique Montreal, Concordia University and the Centre de recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM, Montreal), and other health care and industrial partners through a fee for service (MISO Chip Inc.). To assemble this platform, an inverted microscope with a large field of view and fluorescence capabilities will be required, as well as an incubation chamber that can be installed on the microscope. This chamber will be used for long-term multiplexed biological experiments where precise environmental control is required. Finally, the platform will require a 2-channel pressure-based microfluidic controller and flow rate sensors to control and monitor the operation of the open-space microfluidic devices. The platform will train over 5 highly qualified professionals a year, will stimulate collaboration with cancer biologists and medical oncologists, and will be used by 48 undergraduate students per year as part of a research-based course on bioMEMS at Polytechnique Montreal.