The proposed high pressure "pump-on-a-chip" microfluidic technology can be readily adapted to NASA's miniature scientific instrumentations for in-situ exploration of bodies in the solar system. In particular, it is directly applicable to the current microfluidic instrumentation being developed to analyze organic molecules on Mars surface to find signature of life as well as to analyze Titan surface to study prebiotic chemistry on Titan. It is also potentially applicable to "lab-on-a-chip" implementation of the wet chemistry lab on the Phoenix Mars Lander, which seeks to determine the pH and the abundance of minerals and relevant anions and cations. The proposed technology has other broad NASA applications including on-chip biosensors and electrochemical sensors. In addition, the proposed "pump-on-a-chip" technology can also be applied to such applications as clinical diagnostics, spacecraft and biosphere environmental monitoring, and toxicology studies.
The high pressure "pump-on-a-chip" microfluidics technology described in this proposal possesses significant commercial potential for a wide range of technologies and applications in markets ranging from specialty medical and aerospace industries to consumer electronics. Commercial devices based on such microfluidics technology envisioned include components for DNA, protein and drug separation and analysis, chemical analysis systems, drug delivery systems, and embedded health monitoring systems.
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