Lab-On-a-Chip is a device that integrates one or several laboratory functions on a single integrated circuit of only mm to a few square cm for the scaling of single or multiple lab processes using microfluidics. The systems consist of complex devices with interconnected fluidic microchannel networks, valves, mixers, pumps, reaction chambers, and detectors, and they are able to perform without human intervention. It becomes an important part to improve global health through the development of point-of-care testing devices.

2. I. What is Lab-On-a-Chip ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
II. A Bit of History …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4
III. Chip Materials & Fabrication Technology …………………………………………..…………………….. 5-6
IV. How it works ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…….. 7
V. Potential Applications ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
VI. Advantages & Disadvantages …………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
VII. Global Challenges ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10
VIII. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11
IX. References ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12

3. 3
A Lab-On-a-Chip (LOC) is a device that integrates one or several laboratory functions on a
single integrated circuit (commonly called a "chip") of only millimeters to a few square centimeters
to achieve automation and high-throughput screening.
LOCs may use microfluidics (the physics, manipulation and study of minute amounts of fluids-
down to less than pico-litres), for the scaling of single or multiple lab processes down to chip-
format.

4. 4
50s- photographic technologies to create photolithography, in order to fabricate micro-sized
transistors
60s- microtechnology to fabricate micromechanical structures called MEMS, for use in daily objects
such as airbags and smartphones
the first real lab-on-a-chip was created in 1979 at Stanford University for Gas Chromatography
80s- major lab-on-a-chip research began with the production of polymer chips by Soft-Lithography
90s- µTAS (micro total analysis system) technologies for miniaturization of genomic biochemical
operations such as PCR, electrophoresis, DNA microarray, pretreatment step, cell lysis etc.
portable biological and chemical warfare agent detection systems by Military agencies the
DARPA and the DGA
growing interest of companies and applied research groups for chemical analysis, environmental
monitoring, medical diagnostics, synthetic chemistry i.e. rapid screening and microreactors.

5. 5
PDMS
(polydimethylsiloxane)
• transparent and
flexible elastomer
• easy and cheap to
fabricate
• not compatible with
high throughput
Thermopolymers (PMMA, PS)
• little bit trickier & expensive
• transparent, compatible
with micrometer-sized
lithography & chemically
inert
Paper
• strong outcomes for
applications requiring
ultra-low costs
• accessible to lower-income
and limited-resource
populations.
Silicon
• the first LOC was made
of silicon
• expensive, not
optically transparent,
requires clean room &
strong knowledge of
microfabrication

6. 6
(a) Fabrication procedure with
both side view and top view.
The side view is drawn across
the red dashed line in the top
view images.
(b) A digital photo of the lab-on-
a-chip device.
(c) A zoom-in microscopy image
of the channel. The scale bar
is 200 μm.
Glass- Transparent, compatible with micrometer sized machining, chemically inert
Fig 1: Design and Fabrication of the Lab-On-a-Chip device

7. 7
Fig 2: A general scheme of a LOC device with different active and passive structures using the process
flow- microchannels, mixers, microreactors, micropillar filters, capillary pumps and valves, droplet
generators (for digital droplet polymerase chain reaction, or dPCR), mergers, and splitters.

8. 8
o Home Pregnancy Test kit
o Glucose Meter
o Point-of-Care testing devices
o Diagnose and manage common infectious diseases caused
by bacteria, e.g. bacteriuria or virus, e.g. influenza
o Detection Viral Infections- HIV, around 36.9 million people are
infected with HIV in the world today and only 75% of people living
with HIV knew their HIV status
o Digital Dipstick
o Cytometer

9. 9
✓ Low cost
✓ High parallelization
✓ Ease of use and compactness
✓ Reduction of human error
✓ Faster response time and
diagnosis
✓ Low volume samples
✓ Real time process control, and
monitoring, increase sensitivity
✓ Expendable
✓ Share the health with everybody
× Industrialization
× Signal/noise ratio
× Ethics and human
behaviour
× Lab-on-a-chip needs an
external system to work

10. 10
CURRENT CHALLENGES & RESEARCH:
▪ Industrialization: to make them ready for commercialization, includes
adaptation of fabrication processes, design of specific surface
treatments, flow control system etc.
▪ Operations: increase in the maximum number of biological operations
able to be integrated on the same chip to achieve maximum detection
▪ Fundamental Researches: on certain technologies with a high potential
impact, such as
i. DNA reading through nanopores
ii. enabling the use of basic lab-on-a-chip functions using a smartphone for cholesterol testing,
anemia diagnosis, cardiovascular diseases monitoring
iii. home security, automated monitoring of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

11. 11
CONCLUSION:
Real time diagnosis will
increase the chances of
survival for patients in
emergency services and
will allow the appropriate
treatment to be given to
each patient.
The ability to perform
diagnosis at low cost will
also routinely change the
way we see medicine and
then enable us to detect
illnesses at an earlier
stage and treat them as
soon as possible.
Diagnosis done by
people with lower
qualifications, thus
enabling doctors to
focus only on
treatment.

12. 12
1. Microfluidic Reviews: “Introduction to lab-on-a-chip 2020: Review, History and future”
https://www.elveflow.com/microfluidic-reviews/general-microfluidics/introduction-to-lab-
on-a-chip-review-history-and-future/
2. AZOLifeSciences: Susha Cheriyedath, “What is Lab-on-a-Chip”
https://www.azolifesciences.com/article/What-is-Lab-on-a-Chip.aspx
3. Zhu et . “Recent Advances in lab-on-a-chip technologies for viral diagnosis”, Biosensors and
Bioelectronics (153), pp 112041 (2020)
4. Castillo-Leon et al. “Lab-on-a-Chip Devices and Micro Total Analysis Systems: a Practical
Guide”, Springer, ISBN 978-3-319-08686-6 (2015)