A correct-by-construction design and programming approach for open paper-based digital microfluidics

Abstract

Advances in microfluidic research have allowed digital microfluidic (DMF) chips to be rapid prototyped using inexpensive materials and simple fabrication processes to the extend where the time spend on chip design can be significantly longer than the time required for fabrication. The growing need for application specific DMF chips challenges efficient handling of the increasing chip design and programming complexity. To address this, we propose a correct-by-construction modular chip design approach, which allows chips to be constructed from a component library and verified by simulation before fabrication. After fabrication, the chip is operated from a smartphone by remote instrumentation of a portable DMF chip control device. By combining structured design techniques with custom developed hardware and software tools, we present a full end-to-end solution for fast DMF chip design, simulation and operation.