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Research Summary: Microfluidics is a new area of science and technology that focuses on the control of fluid transport on a micro scale. It has received tremendous interest in recent years due to its potential impact on a wide range of science and engineering disciplines .One of the areas where it has high impact is in the DNA analysis. The motivation is that by mastering micro scale fluid transport, the performance of present DNA analysis can be dramatically improved. It is important to recognize that design of such a practical biochip is a truly multidisciplinary, multiphysics, and multiscale engineering problem. It involves fluid flow, convection, and diffusion and chemical reactions within the microfluidic chamber. The interaction between these complex phenomena must be well understood to enable truly successful implementation in DNA biochips. Mathematical modeling can play a critical role in developing a fundamental understanding of these complex phenomena as well as to guide and support experiments. It can be extremely valuable both in terms of providing a research tool and as an efficient design and optimization tool. By incorporating the complexities of channel geometry, fluid flow rates, diffusion coefficients and possible chemical interactions into a numerical model, the behavior of a particular system can be accurately predicted when an intuitive prediction may be extremely difficult. I have developed computer aided numerical models for the design and optimization of flow through biochips. Finite element technique (FEMLAB) is being used to simulate the transport of DNA through a 3D microfluidic chamber to the reaction surface where hybridization behavior is studied.
Presently,I am also involved in design and development of hand-held PCR based detection system.The automated instrumentation with low operating costs that can be used for rapid,high-throughput, robust and specific microbial detection would play a key role in biomedical diagnostics, food safety, and biological warfare tests. My work in this project focuses on developing automated process of heating and cooling on a PCR chip using LabVIEW.In order to attain this goal,a PID type controller algorithm was implemented in LabVIEW for precise temperature control.
Research Interest:
- Design and Development of PCR based detection System.
- Modeling ,Simulation & Optimization of Microfluidic Biochips & Biosensors.
- Design and fabrication of MEMS biochips.
- Development of microcontroller based handheld system for microbial detection.
