Publications [#67673] of Richard B. Fair

Papers Published

1. Su, Fei and Chakrabarty, Krishnendu and Fair, Richard B., Microfluidics-based biochips: Technology issues, implementation platforms, and design-automation challenges, IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, vol. 25 no. 2 (2006), pp. 211 - 223 [TCAD.2005.855956]
   (last updated on 2007/04/17)

   Abstract:
   Microfluidics-based biochips are soon expected to revolutionize clinical diagnosis, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing, and other laboratory procedures involving molecular biology. In contrast to continuous-flow systems that rely on permanently etched microchannels, micropumps, and microvalves, digital microfluidics offers a scalable system architecture and dynamic reconfigurability; groups of unit cells in a microfluidics array can be reconfigured to change their functionality during the concurrent execution of a set of bioassays. As more bioassays are executed concurrently on a biochip, system integration and design complexity are expected to increase dramatically. This paper presents an overview of an integrated system-level design methodology that attempts to address key issues in the synthesis, testing and reconfiguration of digital microfluidics-based biochips. Different actuation mechanisms for microfluidics-based biochips, and associated design-automation trends and challenges are also discussed. The proposed top-down design-automation approach is expected to relieve biochip users from the burden of manual optimization of bioassays, time-consuming hardware design, and costly testing and maintenance procedures, and it will facilitate the integration of fluidic components with a microelectronic component in next-generation systems-on-chips (SOCs). © 2006 IEEE.

   Keywords:
   Automation;Diagnosis;RNA;DNA sequences;Molecular biology;Bioassay;Arrays;Microelectronics;Testing;