Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
This paper presents an overview of the development of novel disposable smart plastic fluidic biochips for clinical diagnostic applications. The biochip is manufactured using a low-cost, rapid turn around injection molding/embossing process on a plastic substrate. The plastic fluidic biochip uses a novel sPROMs (structurally programmable microfluidic system) approach to achieve passive control of fluidic sequencing [1-2]. The plastic biochip also uses an on-chip pressurized air source for fluidic movement thus eliminating the need for active driving mechanisms and allowing for a truly disposable approach. Furthermore, electrochemical biosensors are also integrated on-chip to analyze various metabolically significant parameters such as PO2(partial pressure of oxygen), Glucose, Lactate,and pH. The fluidic biochip is being developed for point-of-care health monitoring applications where parameters such as small size, simplicity of operation, disposability, reduced cross-contamination are vital. The issues mentioned above are successfully addressed using the approach of this work and are discussed in this paper.