Flow of tiny bubbles mimics computer circuitry, Work could boost capabilities of 'labs on a chip', Anne Trafton, News Office, February 8, 2007
VIDEO - This video shows bubbles flowing through AND/OR gates on the microfluidic computer designed at MIT. (4.3 MB .mpg file; Video/Manu Prakash, MIT), File is MPG format Running time is 00:42
VIDEO - In this video, bubbles flow through a microfluidic bubble synchronizer. (10 MB .mpg file; Video/Manu Prakash, MIT), File is MPG Format, running time is 1:42
In work that could dramatically boost the capabilities of "lab on a chip" devices, MIT researchers have created a way to use tiny bubbles to mimic the capabilities of a computer.
"Bubble logic merges chemistry with computation, allowing a digital bit to carry a chemical payload. Until now, there was a clear distinction between the materials in a reaction and the mechanisms to control them," said co-author Neil Gershenfeld, director of the Center for Bits and Atoms.
Microfluidics allow scientists to create tiny chips where nanoliters of fluids flow from one part of the chip to another, undergoing controlled chemical reactions in different parts of the chip and replacing the conventional test tubes and glassware used for chemistry for centuries.
The technology has the potential to revolutionize large-scale chemical analysis and synthesis, environmental and medical testing and industrial production processes, but applications outside of the laboratory have been limited so far by the external control systems--valves and plumbing--required for its operation.
But now, the MIT researchers are able to control microfluidic chips via the interactions of bubbles flowing through microchannels, eliminating the need for external controls. "Now you can program what's happening inside the lab on a chip, by designing bubble logic circuits that function just like their electronic counterparts," said Manu Prakash, Gershenfeld's co-author and graduate student.
Other applications include combinatorial synthesis of many compositions at the same time, programmable print heads that can deposit a range of functional materials, and sorting biological cells.
The researchers modeled their new microfluidic chips on the architecture of existing digital circuits. But instead of using high and low voltages to represent a bit of information, they use the presence or absence of a bubble. They report on nitrogen bubbles in water, but any other combinations of materials that don't mix would work, such as oil and water.
The research was supported by MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, an interdisciplinary initiative exploring the boundary between physical science and computer science, with funding from the National Science Foundation.
Contact: Elizabeth Thomson thomson@mit.edu 617-258-5402 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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