Lab-on-Chip Workshop

1st July 2005

Dr. Stanislas Krawczyk

CNRS Research Director, LEOM-CNRS-Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France

We will try to discuss and to “design” together a future Lab-on-a-Chip Microsystem(s) for medical applications, in particular, in the field of cancer. These Labs-on-a-Chip should detect quantitatively some proteins considered as cancer markers and DNA mutations typical for some cancers. These devices will be designed for point-of-care applications (small medical centers, doctor’s cabinets…) rather than for big hospitals, which requires high throughput operation systems. Various technologies and association of various functional blocks will be considered. Some of discussed points will be the following :

1. Introduction to Lab-on-a-Chip Microsystems.
   
   • Birth of new concept,
   • Infancy (first applications),
   • Adolescence (trying everything),
   • Advantages and potential applications in the field of medicine,
   • High throughput and point of care application – two different approaches,
   • The field of Lab-on-a-Chip is larger than that of micro-electronics – you must choose your favorite(s) before getting married.
2. How to make Lab-on-a-Chip Microsystems ?
   
   • the simplest technologies,
   • why to make complicated, when we can make simple ?
   • overview of various structures,
   • critical issues to win (what ?)
   • nano – micro – bio, integrated optics and other stuffs in mode.
3. Advanced Lab-on-a-Chip structures.
   
   • useful and not-useful structures (at least in the 3rd millennium),
   • glass, silicon, polymers and their friends,
   • combining various materials as a challenging issue,
   • 3D structures,
   • collective fabrication on large surfaces,
   • millions of pieces by year or nothing.
4. Let’s design a diagnostic Lab-on-a-Chip even if we still don’t know
   
   • if it will work.
   • overview of various functional blocks,
   • relevant proteins, DNA or both from a “drop of blood” for healthy life,
   • Lab-on-a-Chip in the field of cancer,
   • critical issues,
   • looking for publications, for new effects or something which will (probably) work – to search or to find ?
   • speculating about the future (shall we stay in Europe, move to USA or to China ?).

A large participation of the audience, critical remarks and everything what you wish (including COLD eggs on my head) are permitted and encouraged. Nobody knows everything in this large and interdisciplinary field.