![]() ![]() ![]() The use of microfluidic technology, where small volumes of fluids are manipulated in carrying out miniaturized laboratory assays, has drawn considerable attention owing to inherent advantages that include minimized reagent consumption, miniaturized reaction volumes and the potential to yield robust and rapid results. In addition to the above-mentioned applications, we aspire to enable children to have access to “programmable chemistry kits” in science education settings globally. Powered manually by a hand-crank, our device incorporates a single-layer microfluidic chip in a plug-and-play fashion and is programmed by a paper tape with punched holes as discrete instructions. Combining microfluidics with programming using paper punch card tapes, here we present a novel integrated general-purpose fluidic platform to address specific challenges for resource-poor settings. The capacity to implement complex robust multiplex assays in resource poor settings devoid of skilled personnel, power sources and supportive infrastructure can revolutionize difficult to execute applications in global health, environmental monitoring and forensics, anywhere around the world. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Ĭompeting interests: The authors of this manuscript have read the journal’s policy and have the following competing interests: The authors have filed a patent for the microfluidic platform device. ![]() George Korir acknowledges support from Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Student Predoctoral Fellowship, Stanford University’s Dean’s Doctoral Diversity Fellowship, Ric Weiland Fellowship and the His-Fong Ho Engineering Graduate Fellowship. Manu Prakash acknowledges support from Spectrum Foundation (NIH CTSA UL1 TR000093), Coulter Foundation, Pew Foundation, Society for Science and the Public (SPARK) and Moore Foundation. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedĭata Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.įunding: The project was funded by C-IDEA grant (National Institutes of Health grant RC4 TW008781-01). Received: SeptemAccepted: DecemPublished: March 4, 2015Ĭopyright: © 2015 Korir, Prakash. Eddington, University of Illinois at Chicago, UNITED STATES With its portable and robust design, low cost and ease-of-use, we envision punch card programmable microfluidics will bring complex control of microfluidic chips into field-based applications in low-resource settings and in the hands of children around the world.Ĭitation: Korir G, Prakash M (2015) Punch Card Programmable Microfluidics. Multiplexing is demonstrated by implementing an example colorimetric water quality assays for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate content in different water samples. We demonstrate robustness of operation by encoding a string of characters representing the word “PUNCHCARD MICROFLUIDICS” using the droplet generator. ![]() Enabled by the complexity of codes that can be represented by a series of holes in punched paper tapes, we demonstrate independent control of 15 on-chip pumps with enhanced mixing, normally-closed valves and a novel on-demand impact-based droplet generator. A mechanical reader/actuator reads these paper tapes and correspondingly executes operations onto a microfluidic chip coupled to the platform in a plug-and-play fashion. A paper tape encodes information as a series of punched holes. Combining the idea of punch card programming with arbitrary fluid control, here we describe a self-contained, hand-crank powered, multiplex and robust programmable microfluidic platform. Incorporating multiple pumps, mixers and discrete valve based control of nanoliter fluids and droplets in an integrated, programmable manner without additional required external components has remained elusive. However multiple barriers exist towards low-cost field deployment of programmable microfluidics. Small volume fluid handling in single and multiphase microfluidics provides a promising strategy for efficient bio-chemical assays, low-cost point-of-care diagnostics and new approaches to scientific discoveries. ![]()
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