UW Bioengineering research assistant professor Dr. Barry Lutz and colleagues have demonstrated the concept of “programming” paper microfluidic devices with various concentrations of sugar to control the speed of fluid flow. This technique allows for a highly sensitive, multiple-step assay to be conducted with a single simple device without the need for additional laboratory equipment or special handling.
This research was recently published in the journal Lab on a Chip. Famous Harvard scientist George M. Whitesides enthused about Lutz et al.’s work in a published response, offering “The spirit of this demonstration (…) will ultimately combine into the technology base that will support some of the lowest-cost, most robust, and most fieldable of the diagnostic systems”.
Read more: http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/05/microfluidic-paper-sugar-solutions-delay-fluid