A Lab-on-a-Chip using magnetic droplets

We present a chip-based bio-analysis system using the two dimensional (2D) magnetic manipulation of microdroplets. The latter contain magnetic microparticles which serve as force mediators for the droplet actuation. In combination with a changeable field topology over the chip surface, we are able to perform all droplet manipulation steps, like transport, merging, mixing and splitting of droplets on our chip, as presented recently [1]. Based on such a droplet manipulation system, we implemented different bio-analysis protocols such as the on-chip colorimetric detection of biologically active markers and the on-chip purification of DNA. Both procedures show excellent results and demonstrate the potential use of the two-dimensional magnetic droplet manipulation system as a platform for miniaturized bio-analytical systems.