Combined circuit/device modeling and simulation of integrated microfluidic systems

A combined circuit/device model for the analysis of integrated microfluidic systems is presented. The complete model of an integrated microfluidic device incorporates modeling of fluidic transport, chemical reaction, reagent mixing, and separation. The fluidic flow is generated by an applied electrical field or by a combined electrical field and pressure gradient. In the proposed circuit/device model, the fluidic network has been represented by a circuit model and the functional units of the μ-TAS (micro Total Analysis System) have been represented by appropriate device models. We demonstrate the integration of the circuit and the device models by using an example, where the output from the fluidic transport module serves as the input for the other modules such as mixing, chemical reaction and separation. The combined circuit/device model can be used for analysis and design of entire microfluidic systems with very little computational expense, while maintaining the desired level of accuracy.