SBIR Phase II: Themally-Actuated Microfluidic Systems

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将开发一种新技术，以满足微流控设备对可靠且廉价的多功能流体处理和控制的需求。在第一阶段成果的基础上，展示了微流控热驱动的基本概念，第二阶段计划的目标是演示、开发和优化所有有用的微流控流体处理功能的热驱动技术，并展示将各种功能组合到一个集成设备中的能力。为了实现这些目标，将开发制造、操作、评估和优化设备的方法，在实际应用环境中演示每个感兴趣的功能。最终结果将是一个完整的微流控工具箱，可用于向各种客户提供流体处理和控制功能，以便在商业微流控设备中实施。这项研究的更广泛影响是在生物医学和生物制药研究以及临床诊断领域。这一第二阶段计划的成功完成将导致开发一套热驱动功能元件，从而实现一种不那么复杂、更具成本效益的生物医学微流控设备；即“芯片实验室”系统。潜在的商业价值是巨大的。分子诊断测试的日益复杂，以及提供经济高效、可靠和可重复的护理点检测的压力，将继续增加对此类系统的需求。这种技术的社会影响将包括大幅降低成本、更准确和一致的结果，以及通过更快和更具体的治疗改善卫生保健。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop a new technology to satisfy the need for reliable and inexpensive ultifunctional fluid handling and control in microfluidic devices. Building on the Phase I results, which demonstrated the fundamental concepts of thermal actuation of microfluidics, the goals of the Phase II program are to demonstrate, develop, and optimize thermal actuation techniques for all useful microfluidic fluid handling functions, and to demonstrate the ability to combine the various functions into an integrated device. To achieve these goals, methods will be developed for fabricating, operating, evaluating, and optimizing devices demonstrating each function of interest in a realistic application setting. The end result will be a complete microfluidic tool box that can be applied to supply fluid handling and control functions to a variety of customers for implementation in commercial microfluidic devices. The broader impacts of this research are in the areas of biomedical and biopharmaceutical research, and clinical diagnostics. Successful completion of this Phase II program would result in development of a set of thermally-actuated functional elements enabling a less complex and more cost-effective biomedical microfluidic device; the "lab-on-a-chip" system. The potential commercial value is significant. The increasing complexity of molecular diagnostic tests and the pressure to provide cost-effective, reliable, and repeatable point-of-care assays will continue to increase the demand for such systems. Societal impact of such a technology will include substantial cost reduction, more accurate and consistent results, and improved health care resulting from more rapid and specific treatment.