Cyber-physical integration in programmable microfluidic biochips

Microfluidic biochip technology integrates miniaturized components into a chip that can perform traditional biochemical laboratory procedures. Commercial impact is highlighted by the recent acquisition of Advanced Liquid Logic by Illumina Inc., a leader in DNA sequencing and biomolecular analysis. Due to the inherent variability involved in many biochemical processes, uncertainties manifest themselves in many ways in microluidics. Cyber-physical integration of on-chip sensors permits feedback-driven monitoring in-real time to detect and correct errors, along with other benefits such as adaptive control and dynamic re-synthesis. This paper overviews low-based and digital (droplet-based) microluidic biopchips, and discusses the state-of-the-art in microluidic device fabrication, the interplay between sensor feedback and adaptive control software, and practical experiences relating to biochip cyber-physical integration. It demonstrates the connections between the many fundamental principles of chip design and engineering, and the needs of the biochip community.