Microfluidics involves complicated design and mechanics of fluid motion. Microfluidics enables many reactions to take place in miniscule volumes. This enables efficiency as well as minitiaturization with the consequential advantage of speed and low waste of reagents. However, one persistent problem has been the pumps that are required to pump liquid through these minor chambers.
Pumps can be small but they require careful calibration, power and can be complicated to run and control with numerous electronics. So how do you make a microfluidic chip that is efficient and does not require power to operate as well as being simple?
Researchers came up with the concept of a slip-chip. This enables two chambers containing different amount of liquid to be in two separate chips that are attached to each other through a sliding mechanism. Mixing of the two or more liquids require that you simply move one chip on the surface of the other and that causes the fluids to mix. This requires no power and makes the microfluidics technology very simple and easy to use.
Couple a reader that is a mobile phone like device with its own display and power and you have a diagnostic system that can be portable and very efficient.