Experimental Investigation of droplet motion on a sliding surface for development of health care diagnostic platform

Creating a portable platform that is capable of automatically maneuvering a micro droplet on its surface is the streamlined target of this project. While plenty of research has been focused on using electro-magnetic means, Air jet manipulation for the movement of droplet in a desired direction will

Project Title

Experimental Investigation of droplet motion on a sliding surface for development of health care diagnostic platform

Project Area of Specialization

Mechanical Engineering

Project Summary

Creating a portable platform that is capable of automatically maneuvering a micro droplet on its surface is the streamlined target of this project. While plenty of research has been focused on using electro-magnetic means, Air jet manipulation for the movement of droplet in a desired direction will be the corner stone of this project which also serves the purpose of novelty. It involves the application of Microfluidics, Pneumatics and Electronics, hence qualifying it as multi-disciplinary project. Its application is farfetched, yet, specifically designed to revolutionize the medical diagnostic practices. The design is optimized in such a way so as to miniaturize a whole laboratory protocol that is used for a specific blood diagnosis. Not only will it be easy to use for lab technicians, but will also be genial in saving time and expenses, thereby improving efficiency of the lab tests. Compressed air is used to propel a droplet across guided channels on a hydrophobic surface. The droplet’s behavior and its maneuverability is tested and these results will be verified later with analytical solutions and compared for possible discrepancy.

Project Objectives

The field of digital microfluidics offers miniaturization, integration and automation in handling and testing small scale biological fluids such as blood, in our case. A problem in this field is that all the digital microfluidic devices are not cheap. It is still struggling to be commercialized with problems such as high instrumentation cost; electric pumps, and difficult fabrication techniques from industrial point of view. Hence our research focuses on commercializing and improving health care diagnostics by using digital microfluidics. Our idea is unique in the sense that it propels the fluid droplet by the use of an air-jet. The droplet will move on a flat hydrophobic surface. Micro channels will be scribed in the surface to make the droplet move in the any direction by the propulsion forces. Moreover, there will be incubation centers at the cross-sections where two droplets could merge and dissolve. This way, we would be able to replicate the entire procedure that a typical laboratory performs on a sample of blood droplets. This would holistically be called as Lab-on-a-chip. The main goal we are trying to achieve would be control and manipulate a water droplet’s movement on a surface while defining its position at all times. We should also be able to start and stop its movement at specified locations and time. Thus, the problems that we would be required to overcome for our project would be three-fold: a) maneuverability, b) superhydrophobicity and c) logical control of our whole setup.

Project Implementation Method

We have gone through most of the research papers about the topic which are included in the literature review, all of them have used unique techniques for achieving the goal of controlled motion of droplet along a hydrophobic surface which can be used for commercializing the product as a portable diagnostic chip. As in our project we have to incorporate different things like we have to control the air through pneumatic valves so we have discussed concepts with our advisor very precisely to achieve our goal and rest of the things comes with our engineering knowledge. In design methodology there are two important aspects of our project, the channel design and hydrophobic spray design. The channel design will explain the efficient laser engraving technique among three different pattern which one is more efficient and more effective. Secondly we are planning to prepare the hydrophobic spray in the lab so the design of hydrophobic spray is also included in the design section of the study. CAD model of our design and mathematical modeling will be done which will help us to understand the science behind the study. We are keen to commercialize our project so will try to reduce the cost as much as possible. We will also gauge the project impact on environment because we want our project to be environmentally friendly. At the end conclusion and future recommendation will be given for the project.

Benefits of the Project

Our project has great potential of having a massively positive impact on the medical diagnosis industry. The fact that its application is based on miniaturizing a whole laboratory procedure on a single chip that will be able to diagnose for a known blood disease can make diagnosis accessible and easier for everyone. Not only is it cheaper, but it also saves a lot of time and aids in speeding an otherwise lengthy and rather tedious procedure. This will invariably help the medical practitioners to save lives. Once the protocol is fully functional, even a layman would be able to operate it with considerable ease and can later be a potential for mass production for large scale use.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

This project will lead us to the controlled motion of fluid droplet along a hydrophobic surface as we will be able to control the motion of fluid on a desired path so it will lead us to a portable chip that can be used for the diagnosis of different diseases such as hepatitis. In current situation of the pandemic this chip can also be used for the diagnostic purpose of COVID 19. As it will be fully automated so it can help laboratory technicians to perform their tasks effectively. This project also has the capability to minimize large scale processes of diagnostic industry. As it will be very easy for the laboratory operator to use and its cost effectiveness will lead us to commercialize our product

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Medical

Other Industries

Manufacturing , Health

Core Technology

Others

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health and Well-Being for People, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Required Resources

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