MECs: "Building Blocks" for Creating Biological and Chemical Instruments.

The development of new biological and chemical instruments for research and diagnostic applications is often slowed by the cost, specialization, and custom nature of these instruments. New instruments are built from components that are drawn from a host of different disciplines and not designed to integrate together, and once built, an instrument typically performs a limited number of tasks and cannot be easily adapted for new applications. Consequently, the process of inventing new instruments is very inefficient, especially for researchers or clinicians in resource-limited settings.

MECs: building blocks for custom microfluidic diagnostics in the developing world.

Microfluidic diagnostics for use in the developing world face a number of unique challenges. Doctors and nurses in developing countries are best suited to addresses these challenges, but they lack the resources and training needed to develop their own microfluidic diagnostics. To address this need, we are developing a system of Multifluidic Evolutionary Components or MECs, "building blocks" that can be snapped together by healthcare providers in resource-limited settings to build custom diagnostic instruments.