Digital microfluidic chips for chemical and biological applications

The advent of digital microfluidic lab-on-a-chip (LoC) technology offers an excellent platform for developing diagnostic applications. In diagnostics raw physiological samples must be introduced onto the chip and then further processed by lysing blood cells and extracting DNA. However, types of applications that can be implemented on a digital microfluidic platform are largely determined by detection or sensor technology as well as the compatibility of the liquids with electrowetting. In this paper we will focus on analyte detection technologies and discuss suitable applications, both potential and demonstrated, based on digital microfluidics.