What is it about?
We propose an open microfluidic platform, lab on an end (LoE), to pump spatially and temporally continuous flow for multifunctional micromanipulation with the acoustohydrodynamic pillar array as an end effector. LoE brings together the micromanipulation of individual entities, liquid operations, and cell processing onto an acoustic end effector. Its capability of integrating multiple sequential processes, inherent high accessibility, easy use, and low cost provide an end-to-end solution to mainstream chemistry and biomedical research.
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Why is it important?
Great eforts have been made to put the concept of microfuidics into practice for advancing chemistry, diagnostics, and biology. However, existing routes to microfuidics, including the lab-on-a-chip and open microfuidic devices, require biologists and chemists to design proprietary tools for specifc tasks, preventing them from widespread adoption. Inspired by the cooperative multiple cilia of biological organisms and tissues to generate fow, we propose the acoustohydrodynamic pillar array as an end efector to pump spatially and temporally continuous fow, which brings together micromanipulation of individual entities and liquids, allowing for complex multistep processing in open environment. We envision that the LoE addresses the inherent limitations of traditional microfuidic approaches and will serve as an easy-to-use, powerful tool for many laboratory tasks.
Perspectives
With more pillar array designs, we aim to establish an LoE “family”, providing easy-to-use but powerful tools and end-to-end solutions for tasks reserved for full-fledged laboratories. We believe the concept of microfluidics is realized by the proposed LoE, existing open microfluidic devices, and well-established LoC, which can largely enrich the way modern chemistry, biology, and diagnostics are performed.
Xiaoming Liu
Beijing Institute of Technology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Lab on an end: Micromanipulation using the acoustohydrodynamic pillar array as an end effector, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, December 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2505479122.
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