ENG 1182

Lab-on-a-Chip Project Description Document

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Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………..4-5

Overall Project Objectives……………………………………………………………….…………6-7

Project Milestones Outline and Checklist…………………………………………………….……..8

Chip Design and Operation Process Summary……………………………………..…………..…9

Design Deliverables…………………………………………………………………………….……10

Project Schedule……………………………………………………………………………..…..11-13

Project Notebook/Reporting………………………………………………….………….14-15

Chip Requirements………………………………………………………………………….……16-24

Sample Chip Drawings…………………………………………………………………………..25-26

GTA Meetings…………………………………………………..…………………………….………27

Nanotech Lab Tour………………………………………………………….……………………….28

Testing the Chip…………………………………………………………………………………..29-30

Final Report……………………………………………………………………………………….31-37

Oral Presentation…………………………………………………………………………………….38

Introduction and Background

Nanotechnology offers many potential areas for product improvements. One field, in particular, that is being aggressively explored is the biomedical field. An example of a biomedical application that could greatly improve disease diagnosis is the development of Labs-on-a-Chip (LOC). These small, portable, inexpensive devices can be used to quickly and conveniently run tests on very small amounts of fluids, such as blood, when and where needed. This project will explore the design and use of a LOC to study operational aspects of devices of small scale.

Fluorescein is a chemical that is used to detect an eye disorder known as dry eye syndrome. This disorder reduces the flow of tears to the eyes, creating symptoms such as itching, burning, redness, and blurred vision. It is estimated that as many as 10 million people suffer from this ailment. To diagnose this problem, physicians need to measure the flow rate of tears coming into the eyes. By putting a small amount of fluorescein into the eye and measuring the change in its concentration in tears over time physicians can determine tear flow rate. As new tears enter the eye, the fluorescein concentration is decreased. The tear flow rate can be compared to normal flow rates to identify the “dry eye” problem.

Typically this test is done with expensive instruments in a doctor’s office. Samples of tears are taken from the eye in micro-liter amounts. This project’s objective is to design a cheap, portable Lab-on-a-Chip, LOC, design to measure the concentration of fluorescein. The benefit of this device would be to greatly reduce the cost of equipment required (fluorophotometers) as well as to provide a product that is readily portable. Portability is very helpful in situations where older or disabled patients find it difficult to travel to a doctor’s office.

The LOC project consists of designing two different chip designs. The first chip will be designed in the early part of the semester and the secondchip, whichwill be designed later. The two-step design approach will allow for improvements from the first design and ultimately enhanceLOC performance.

Additional Lab Components

In addition to the hands-on lab experiences and documentation described above, the following components are provided to enhance the lab experience and relate current nanotechnology research to the microfabrication analog provided within the confines of the lab.

Nanotechnology Teaching Modules (NTM)

Nanomanufacturing involves the precise manipulation and placement of individual molecules and an understanding of scientific principles applied at the molecular scale. An important part of this lab project is developing hands-on experience with micromanufacturing and knowledge of the challenges you would face in reducing the size scales a further 3 orders of magnitude to the nanoscale domain. To help with the latter, we have commissioned several faculty members around the university whose primary research is in an aspect of nanotechnology to write short modules on a specific topic. These modules form an integral part of your lab assignments and will comprise a significant part of your lab memos. They are assigned at times that best correspond to the subject matter of specific segments of the design-build project. When a module is assigned you are to read the module and answer the assigned questions from the module as a part of your lab memo. There are also quizzes on Carmen that need to be completed. The modules are available in this lab packet.

Nanotechnology Lab Tour

Students will also go on a tour of some of the nanotechnology labs on the OSU campus, and will write a summary of this experience. To prepare for this tour and for the requirements for the summary, see the Lab Tour Summary section of this document.

Overall Project Objectives

  • Project Management and Teamwork – To successfully bring any complex project to completion requires proper planning and the coordinated effort of a group of people. To help your team achieve this goal, you will be introduced to the basics of project management and teamwork. This includes, but is not limited to: time management and task scheduling, team communications and meetings, fair division of labor and team member responsibilities. You will be expected to produce related documents such as a work breakdown structure, a project schedule, and team meeting records, all of which must be regularly updated and kept in the team project notebook. Additional information is included in the Project Management and Project Notebook sections of this document.
  • Design Process – Rarely, if ever, does a new design work perfectly the first time. Your design project will likely be no exception to this. While it is a lot of fun to dive right in and start prototyping any sort of project, your team will reach a useful design much sooner if you follow a more formalized approach to the design process. In short, it consists of: identifying the project requirements and constraints, gathering background information, brainstorming, identification and management of materials, initial analysis & design, and the build/test/modify/document cycle with two iterations. As part of this process, you will produce the initial design, document any revisions to it as they occur, and produce the 1st and 2nd design documentation that accurately reflects your designs. You should also keep the initial, 1st and 2nd designs, with all revisions for both chip design, in your project notebook. For more details, read the Chip Requirements, Project Management and Project Notebook sections of this document.


  • Project Documentation – Your project documentation consists of three parts:
  1. The team project notebook:The team project notebook is the complete documentation of the design project, and will be reviewed on a weekly basis starting on the third lab session. It should contain:
  2. your lab memos
  3. your paper designs
  4. your team meeting minutes
  5. your project management documents
  6. anything else of importance relating to the design project.

The complete requirements are in the Project Notebook section of this document.

  1. TheOral Presentation: The oral presentation is an overview of your design project experience.
  1. The final written report. The final written report is a complete summary all aspects of your design. The oral presentation and final written report are both due per class schedule near the end of the semester.
  • The requirements for each of these are described in detail in the Oral Presentationand Final Written Report documents. You may also refer to the Technical Communications Guide for further help.

[Please see the Chip Requirementsand Project Notebook/Reportingsections for specific requirements about project documentations]

Checklist and Outline of Schedule of Milestones for the LOC Project

(Does not include all assignments, only major milestones)

Early Part of the Semester / Review this Project Description Document, “hands on” experimentation with generic design
Work on paper design, Begin Project Notebook, Team agreement
Due: Initial Design Sketch, Update Project Notebook
Due: Preliminary 1st Design
Due: GTA Meeting #1
Due: 1st Design and Calculations due
Due: Project Schedule
Due: Lab Tour Summary
Mid Semester / Continual updating of Project Notebook
Due: 1st Chip Design testing. GTA Meeting #2
Due:, 2nd Chip Design and Calculations due
2nd Chip Testing
End of the Semester / Selection of chip for Final test
Final Test
Oral Presentation
Due: Final Written Report
Due: Completed Project Notebook

[Note: the project notebook must be updated throughout the semester]

Chip Design and Operational Process Summary

Overview

The goal of the lab is to develop, test and document a lab-on-a-chip prototype designs based on the requirements listed in this document.

Each team will create two prototype designs for a portable device to be used for the detection of fluorescence of a chemical solution. Through the course of the initial labs the teams will experiment with a generic prototype of a lab-on-a-chip which will expose the teams to the necessary operational and equipment characteristics to enable them to create new designs. Actual prototype devices will be manufactured from Solidworks drawings of these designs and will be tested and calibrated for use in a final test evaluation.

Lab Management

Lab-on-a-Chip Construction Materials

Each team will be provided with standard lab-on-a-chip kits, parts for the sensor circuits, and a storage bin, distributed as needed on a weekly basis. There will be additional materials for each lab to experiment withthe generic designs. The full list of materials is provided in the equipment list included in this Project Description Document. See the Table of Contents.

No additional materials may be used. Parts for the construction of the sensor system will be provided for the semester. A quarterly checklist must be completed when each team receives these materials and will be used for check-in of materials after final testing.

Design Deliverables

Student teams will be required to provide two designs each for their lab-on-a-chip device. The two designs will differ because two different styles of chipholders will be used. More details are described in the Chip Requirements section.

The matrix below outlines the various submission stages for your designs and process descriptions, and the deliverables for each submission:

Design Deliverables
Each team will provide two chip designs for the LOC device – One design for each chipholder
Initial Sketch Design Submission for the 1st chip / Preliminary 1st design / 1st Chip Design Submission /
2nd chip Design Submission
Hand-drawn sketch / Required / Not required / Not required / Not required
Solidworks Drawings of designs / Not required / Dimensioned Solidworks Part File to GTA / Dimensioned Solidworks Part File to GTA / 1.Printout of dimensioned drawings
Dimensioned drawing NOT needed / 2. Send Solidworks Part file to GTA
Operational Process / Not required / Not required / Refer to page 20 / Revised
Calculations / Not required / Detection Well Volume / Refer to page 20 / Revised

Due dates for each of these submissions will be as per the class schedule.

Your Initial sketch designs and 1st chip Design will be reviewed by the instructional staff prior to the 2nd design submission. Your team will be expected to incorporate the necessary changes resulting from the 1st chip design reviews and from your lab experience with it prior to 2nd Design submission. Your team can further modify your operational process as needed based on experimentation and practical knowledge obtained from the labs. Your operational modifications will be required for final testing. You will also include it in your team’s final written report. Be sure to incorporate all changes in a timely manner for review in the team project notebook.

Project Schedule Grading Guidelines

Project Management Guidelines: Project Planning and Scheduling

Introduction

An important part of any project is proper planning early in the process. This involves identifying and analyzing the requirements, translating them into tasks, and then mapping the tasks to the available resources and timeframe. For this project each team should examine the syllabus and read the project description document to understand all of the deliverables required for this project. Using this information and taking advantage of the skills of the members of your team, you can then start more detailed planning and scheduling. This project schedule becomes an important tool for your team to use throughout the project execution to determine your progress toward your deadline.

The project schedule should be reviewed and updated at least weekly to identify tasks completed and status of your work. If initial tasks fall behind or overlooked tasks are identified, a re-plan effort needs to be done to establish a revised plan to meet the project deadline. The instructional staff will evaluate this project schedule weekly.

As per the class schedule, each team will be required to submit a project schedule. This submission is required before any construction can begin. Below is a list of major tasks that must be included in your schedule. You can add other major tasks as you feel appropriate to allow you to manage your project. You should also add subtasks under each major task to further break down the work as necessary. You should assign team members to them and identify a planned start and finish time for each task along with any dependencies between tasks. A sample of such a project schedule is shown following the task list.

Tasks for the Lab-on-a-Chip Project

Read project description document and syllabus

Team design brainstorming session(s)

Develop Initial project plan

GTA Meeting# 1

GTA Meeting# 2

Benchmarking and generic design investigation observations

Develop Initial sketch

Develop operational process, calculate volumes

Preliminary 1st Chip Design

Revisions from design review meeting incorporated into Preliminary Design

1st Chip Design

2nd Chip Design

Further revisions incorporated in Final design

Testing of completed design

Notebook updates

Lab 1 memo

Lab 2 memo

Lab 3&4 memo

Lab 5 memo

Lab 6 memo

Lab tours

Lab tour summary

NTM readings and discussion questions

Electronic circuit developed and working

Team design meetings

Plan for division of work during lab time

Final Test Final

Written report – outline, draft, final

Oral presentation

Project Schedule / Possible Points / Points Earned
Content: / 8 pts
  • Tasks (20 minimum)
/ 2
  • Person(s) assigned
/ 2
  • Estimated start and finish dates
/ 2
  • Actual start and finish dates
/ 2
Format & Organization / 2 pts
TOTAL / 10 pts
EXAMPLE:

GENERAL COMMENTS:

**Grading Guidelines – 1 point will be deducted if these guidelines are not attached to the Project Schedule

Documentation and Reporting

Project Notebook

Description & Requirements

Each team will keep a notebook documenting their progress in the building of their project. Information about both chip designs need to be included throughout. A three-ring binder is recommended. The purpose of the notebook is to document your work and maintain a record of ideas and decisions made throughout the quarter, in order to create your final written report and oral presentation. Materials should include, but not be limited to, the project description, project schedule, the team working agreement, lab reports, design documentation, handout materials, meeting notes, sketches, and all assignments directly related to the final written report (see below for list of required elements). Your TA or instructor will check this notebook each week in lab as it counts as part of your grade. The notebook will be turned in the last day of class, along with your final written report.

  1. Table of Contents: The table of contents should reflect some organizational structure. In the past, notebooks have been organized by type of document (e.g. sketches, meeting notes, lab reports, etc…) and also chronologically. This section should be typed and page or section numbers should be provided. Major items in the Table of Contents should correspond to tabs in the Project Notebook. Minor items in the Table of Contents may be listed under the major items if necessary for quick reference.
  1. Project Description: Include this entire packet of materials about the project.
  1. Team Working Agreement
  1. Project Schedule: Your project schedule should be a working document. Each week your schedule should be updated to reflect changes, additions, and modifications.
  1. Lab Memos and Report: Simply include lab memos after they have been graded, plus the final written report.
  1. Lab Tour Summary
  1. Design Documentation: Initial sketches, 1st and 2nd designs along with all calculations (including MATLAB and/or Excel analysis) for both designs.
  1. Meeting Notes/Brainstorming Record: Your meeting notes should accurately reflect the topics discussed and decisions reached (or not reached) in your team meetings. Sketches (if any) should accompany these notes.
  1. Sketches: The only sketches required here are those not already contained in team meeting notes or lab reports. You should include any free hand or draft CAD drawings outside of the meeting notes or reports, including scrap drawings or ideas not used. Do not include Basics assignments.
  1. Class Handouts: There is a possibility that you will be given updated project descriptions throughout the quarter.
  1. All materials relevant to the Final Report: drafts of the written report, report outline, etc… (check syllabus)

Project Notebook Grading Guidelines

The purpose of the project notebook is to document all work undertaken by the team during the course of the semester. When submitted, the project notebook should contain all the information required for the implementation of the project, in a step-by-step or sequential fashion. The project notebook is worth 40 points and the distribution of points and grading guidelines are listed below.

  1. Notebook Organization (5 pts) –Use a three ring folder or binder. One approach is to copy all the project related documents from the ENG 1182 course packet and place it in the Project Notebook, tabbed for easy reference, Throughout the class period the GTAs will check the Project Notebook to make sure that it is up-to-date. These weekly checks are worth a total of five points.
  1. Grading (35 pts)
  2. Index and proper page numbering (5pts)
  3. 2 phase GTA Meeting (15pts)
  4. All lab related assignments, memos, and final written report (5 pts)
  5. Brainstorming ideas, final design and related sketches, calculations and out-of-class meeting notes (10 pts = 2+ 3 + 2 + 3) – All sketches should be neatly labeled and titled. Sketch of all designs will use Solidworks; pictorial views as well as fully dimensioned orthographic views should be furnished. Any change suggested by the Instructor/GTA to the final design should be implemented by the team. If not the team will lose half the credit of this section (10) and they might lose points during the final project testing as well.
  6. Brainstorming ideas – 2 pts
  7. All Designs and related sketches – 3 pts
  8. All Designs calculations – 2 pts
  9. Out-of-class meeting notes – 3 pts

Timely submission – Each team needs to submit the Project Notebook at the start of the oral presentation session. Any late submissions are subject to a 30% deduction.