Surface acoustic wave actuated lab-on-chip system for single cell analysis.

Approximately two decades ago, a handful of researchers began discussing an intriguing idea: Could the equipment needed for everyday chemistry and biology procedures possibly be shrunk to fit on a chip the size of a fingernail? Miniature devices for, say, analyzing DNA and proteins should be faster and cheaper than conventional versions. Nowadays, the ‘lab-on-a-chip’represents a quite mature and advanced technology that integrates a microfluidic system on a microscale device. Such a ‘laboratory’ is created by means of channels, mixers, reservoirs, diffusion chambers, integrated electrodes, pumps, valves and more. The ability to precisely control various parameters such as the choice of substrate, flow rate, buffer composition and surface chemistry in these micro scale devices, makes them ideal for a broad spectrum of cell-biology-based applications. These range from high throughput screening of single cells and 3-D scaffolds for tissue engineering to complex biochemical assays like polymerase chain reaction PCR (for a comprehensive review, see), point of care diagnosis and drug detection. While the industrial approach to complexity has been to develop elaborate mechanical high throughput workstations, the technology comes at a price, requiring considerable expense, space and labor in the form of operator training and maintenance. For small laboratories or research institutions, this technology is basically out of reach. Also, many of the existing solutions are deployable for very specific purposes or assays, only. Devices consisting of addressable, maybe programmable micro scale fluidic networks can dramatically simplify the screening process, providing a compartmentalized platform for nanoliter aliquot