Digital Microfluidics Systems for Point-of-Care Analysis

Digital microfluidics is a fluid handling technique that permits actuation of droplets of samples and reagents on an array of electrodes. In this presentation, I will review results for two portable digital microfluidic diagnostic systems that have been developed by my research group. The first system implements immunoassays in pin-prick volumes of blood, and has been used in field trials in Kakuma, Kenya, and in the outskirts of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The second system implements blood typing operations and has been used (with operation performed by hospital staff) in the trauma centre in Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, Canada. These two stories join a growing list of examples of digital microfluidics being taken out of the lab and into settings that can benefit from portable diagnostic assay results.