Engineers at Johns Hopkins University have put down their high-powered computers and cutting edge imaging software in favor of a popular child's toy. Instead of using routine high tech toys, they've turned to Lego pieces to help them visualize the behavior of particles, cells and molecules in environments too tiny to see with naked human eye.
Researchers use the peg-shaped Lego pieces to recreate the microscopic activity inside lab-on-chip devices, known as microfluidic arrays, at a more easily observable scale. The devices are commonly used to sort tiny samples by size, shape or composition, however, the minuscule forces at work at such an extremely small magnitude are difficult to measure, to say the least.
Led by Joelle Frechette and German Drazer, assistant professors of chemical and biomolecular engineering in the Whiting School of Engineering, the team of researchers used beads that were just a few millimeters in diameter, an aquarium filled with gooey glycerol and the Lego pieces arranged on a board to recreate the scene and unlock the mysterious workings taking place at the micro- and nanoscale level.
Data gained from the somewhat unusual tests could provide clues on improving the design and fabrication of lab-on-a-chip technology.
Writer: Walaika Haskins
Source: JHU