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Open AccessArticle
Target-Guided Droplet Routing on MEDA Biochips Considering Shape-Dependent Velocity Models and Droplet Splitting
by
Yuta Hamachiyo
Yuta Hamachiyo 1,
Chiharu Shiro
Chiharu Shiro 1,2,
Hiroki Nishikawa
Hiroki Nishikawa 3
,
Hiroyuki Tomiyama
Hiroyuki Tomiyama 1,* and
Shigeru Yamashita
Shigeru Yamashita 4
1
Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu 525-8577, Japan
2
WITZ Corporation, Nagoya 460-0004, Japan
3
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Osaka, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
4
College of Information Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Osaka 567-8570, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Biosensors 2025, 15(8), 500; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15080500 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 18 June 2025
/
Revised: 23 July 2025
/
Accepted: 1 August 2025
/
Published: 3 August 2025
Abstract
In recent years, digital microfluidic biochips (DMFBs), based on microfluidic technology, have attracted attention as compact and flexible experimental devices. DMFBs are widely applied in biochemistry and medical fields, including point-of-care clinical diagnostics and PCR testing. Among them, micro electrode dot array (MEDA) biochips, composed of numerous microelectrodes, have overcome the limitations of conventional chips by enabling finer droplet manipulation and real-time sensing, thus significantly improving experimental efficiency. While various studies have been conducted to enhance the utilization of MEDA biochips, few have considered the shape-dependent velocity characteristics of droplets in routing. Moreover, methods that do take such characteristics into account often face significant challenges in solving time. This study proposes a fast droplet routing method for MEDA biochips that incorporates shape-dependent velocity characteristics by utilizing the distance information to the target cell. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves approximately a 67.5% reduction in solving time compared to existing methods, without compromising solution quality.
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Hamachiyo, Y.; Shiro, C.; Nishikawa, H.; Tomiyama, H.; Yamashita, S.
Target-Guided Droplet Routing on MEDA Biochips Considering Shape-Dependent Velocity Models and Droplet Splitting. Biosensors 2025, 15, 500.
https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15080500
AMA Style
Hamachiyo Y, Shiro C, Nishikawa H, Tomiyama H, Yamashita S.
Target-Guided Droplet Routing on MEDA Biochips Considering Shape-Dependent Velocity Models and Droplet Splitting. Biosensors. 2025; 15(8):500.
https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15080500
Chicago/Turabian Style
Hamachiyo, Yuta, Chiharu Shiro, Hiroki Nishikawa, Hiroyuki Tomiyama, and Shigeru Yamashita.
2025. "Target-Guided Droplet Routing on MEDA Biochips Considering Shape-Dependent Velocity Models and Droplet Splitting" Biosensors 15, no. 8: 500.
https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15080500
APA Style
Hamachiyo, Y., Shiro, C., Nishikawa, H., Tomiyama, H., & Yamashita, S.
(2025). Target-Guided Droplet Routing on MEDA Biochips Considering Shape-Dependent Velocity Models and Droplet Splitting. Biosensors, 15(8), 500.
https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15080500
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