Clinical laboratory IT solutions could gain from 'ingenious' lab on chip approach

An "ingenious" process involving a polymer, a photocopier and transparency film could allow new clinical laboratory IT solutions to be created for microfluidics platforms.

Microfluidics relies on liquid samples passed through intricate networks of channels, with the processes involved fed back to clinical laboratory IT solutions for analysis.

A high school physics teacher from Cambridge, Massachusetts - home to Harvard University - developed a way of creating these channels on a polymer surface.

Joe Childs' method involves photocopying the desired pattern on to a transparency sheet over and over again, until the ink layers become thick and raised.

This can then simply be used to impress the pattern on a polymer - and has proved effective in development tests conducted at Harvard University.

Harvard College, the part of the university that dates back to 1636, this year received a record number of applications from potential students keen to graduate from its courses in 2015.