Will One-cent Lab on a Chip Revolutionize Diagnostics?

Thanks to microfluidics, electronics and inkjet technology, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a new process for creating reusable lab-on-a-chip technology that can be produced for as little as one cent per chip. It is expected that the low cost could revolutionize diagnostic capabilities, particularly in developing countries where current technology is economically out of reach for many. 

System is part printer, part chip

The lab on a chip is a two-part system. The first part is a clear silicone microfluidic chamber for housing cells and a reusable electronic strip. The second part is a regular inkjet printer that can be used to print the electronic strip onto a flexible sheet of polyester using commercially available conductive nanoparticle ink.

Designed as a multifunctional platform, one of its applications is that it allows users to analyze different cell types without using fluorescent or magnetic labels that are typically required to track cells. Instead, the chip separates cells based on their intrinsic electrical properties: When an electric potential is applied across the inkjet-printed strip, cells loaded into the microfluidic chamber get pulled in different directions depending on their “polarizability” in a process called dielectrophoresis. This label-free method to analyze cells greatly improves precision and cuts lengthy labeling processes.

Designed for small-volume samples

The tool is designed to handle small-volume samples for a variety of assays. The researchers showed the device can help capture single cells from a mix, isolate rare cells and count cells based on cell types. The cost of these multifunctional biochips is orders of magnitude lower than that of the individual technologies that perform each of those functions. A standalone flow cytometer machine, for example, which is used to sort and count cells, costs $100,000, without taking any operational costs into account.

For more information, see the news release and the researchers' published work in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.