Composable Behavioral Models and Schematic-Based Simulation of Electrokinetic Lab-on-a-Chip Systems

This paper presents composable behavioral models and a schematic-based simulation methodology to enable top-down design of electrokinetic (EK) lab-on-a-chip (LoC). Complex EK LoCs are shown to be decomposable into a system of elements with simple geometry and specific function. Parameterized and analytical models are developed to describe the electric and biofluidic behavior within each element. Electric and biofluidic pins at element terminals support the communication between adjacent elements in a simulation schematic. An analog hardware description language implementation of the models is used to simulate LoC subsystems for micromixing and electrophoretic separation. Both direct current (dc) and transient analysis can be performed to capture the influence of system topology, element sizes, material properties, and operational parameters on LoC system performance. Accuracy (relative error generally less than 5%) and speedup of the schematic-based simulation methodology are demonstrated by comparison to experimental measurements and continuum numerical simulation.