A Perspective on Self-Destructing Microfluidics: On-Demand, Safe, and Environmentally Friendly

Abstract

Microfluidic devices have been widely commercialized in recent years, especially in the field of in vitro diagnostics (IVD), these microfluidic devices are sometimes also referred to as “cartridges.” Used microfluidic devices contain sensitive personal information (e.g., genetic information), as well as the intellectual property (IP) of the microfluidic device manufacturer. For IVD application scenarios like home testing, field & resource-limited area testing, the used cartridges may not get proper medical waste treatment. To avoid personal information leakage or the counterfeit/reuse of the microfluidic device, the microfluidic devices need to be property destructed after use. Although very limited discussions have been published on the destruction (disposal) of microfluidic devices, the self-destructing methods of microfluidics can be adopted from integrated circuit (IC) or micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) fields. This perspective discusses various possible approaches to self-destructing microfluidics, where devices are designed to self-destruct after use, enabling the safe disposal of the processed fluid sample, the destruction of the device structure, or both. We believe this study could provide some useful insight for future studies on self-destructing microfluidics in the context of the wide application of microfluidics in IVD and other fields.