A 3D-printed modular magnetic digital microfluidic architecture for on-demand bioanalysis

Magnetic digital microfluidics (MDM) manipulates fluids in the form of droplets on an open substrate, and incorporates surface energy traps (SETs) to facilitate the droplet manipulation. Conventional MDM devices are fabricated monolithically, which makes it difficult to modify the device configuration without completely overhauling the original design. In this paper, we present a modular MDM architecture that enables rapid on-demand configuration and re-configuration of MDM platforms for customized bioanalyses. Each modular component contains a SET and a Lego-like antistud that fits onto a base board with Lego-like studs. We illustrate the versatility of the modular MDM architecture in biomarker sensing, pathogen identification, antibiotic resistance determination, and biochemical quantification by demonstrating immunoassays, phenotypical assays and enzymatic assays on various modular MDM platforms configured on demand to accomplish the fluidic operations required by assorted bioanalytical assays. The modular MDM architecture promises great potential for point-of-care diagnostics by offering on-demand customization of testing platforms for various categories of diagnostic assays. It also provides a new avenue for microfluidic assay development with its high configurability which would significantly reduce the time and cost of the development cycle. Microsystems & Nanoengineering: Magnetic digital microfluidics: Customized bioanalysesA Lego-inspired, modular magnetic digital microfluidic architecture enables customizable bioanalysis. Magnetic digital microfluidics controls droplets on a surface via magnetic particles, with the liquid droplets themselves acting as mini bioreactors for analysis. Such devices often include surface energy traps to aide droplet manipulation. However, because they are fabricated as monolithic systems, they cannot be altered for different bioanalysis post-fabrication. Here, a team led by Yi Zhang from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, reports a modular design for magnetic digital microfluidic devices, in which functional modules are configured and reconfigured via Lego-like studs. This modular design allows users to build testing platform on demand for a wide range of bioanalyses.