Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Context and benefits The field of microfluidics studies the physics and the manipulation of fluids at the submillimetre scale. Advantages associated with the small scale include: (1) less reagent required (less expensive), (2) shorter reaction time (more productive), and (3) isolated individual reactions (cross-contamination mitigation). The microfluidic physics principles are well established on fundamental research. However, challenges-knowledge gaps and equipment barriers-hinder the transfer of the microfluidic tools into the hands of the experts who benefit the most from the advantages (material scientists, drug developers, life sciences, etc.). Currently, the widespread adoption of innovative proofs-of-concept outside the microfluidic research community is difficult. This research program aims to develop and transfer droplet microfluidic tools to users in application-focused fields. Thus, the proposed research directly benefits the researchers (providing them with better tools), and indirectly benefits most of the population through the research of these users (e.g., advanced nanomaterials, new drugs brought quicker and cheaper to consumers, rapid and cheap screening of patient samples, personalized medicine for curated cancer treatment, etc.). Moreover, this research program contributes to the advancement of models for control systems and to the accessibility of tools for microfluidic researchers. Briefly, the impact of this proposed research program is twofold: - Benefits the microfluidic community by (1) developing a short-term and long-term multi-input multi-output system model applicable to a multitude of microfluidic tools, and by (2) sharing an optimized untethered open-source fast pressure pump that is adaptable to various systems. - Provides experts in application-focused fields (i.e., the end users of the automated active microfluidic platform) with accessible on-site tools to further their research in (nano)material synthesis, life sciences, drug development, etc. Objectives and Outcomes The concrete outcomes of the first cycle of this Discovery Grant research program will be (1) an experimentally validated understanding of the short-term and long-term dynamic behaviour of the microfluidic system, and (2) an open-source untethered pressure pump optimized for selected parameters and used for microfluidic applications. These two objectives are the next strategic steps toward the overarching long-term goal to develop accessible easy-to-use microfluidic tools. The digital-twin supported automated microfluidic platform will thus provide a powerful on-site tool to researchers in application-focused fields. Moreover, individual components (e.g., system model, open-source untethered actuation, visualization hardware, controller optimization, manipulation planning, etc.) will widely benefit the microfluidic community. A wide array of microfluidic tools will be able to leverage the open-source subsystems and the microfluidic model.