| Communications on Applied Electronics |
| Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA |
| Volume 8 - Number 1 |
| Year of Publication: 2026 |
| Authors: Biswajit Mondal, Sarit Chakraborty, Pranab Roy, Paramita Dey |
10.5120/cae2026652921
|
Biswajit Mondal, Sarit Chakraborty, Pranab Roy, Paramita Dey . AI-guided Automated Sample Preparation Advantages in Micro Electrode Dot Array (MEDA)-based DMFB over Microfluidic Biochips: A Comprehensive Review. Communications on Applied Electronics. 8, 1 ( Jan 2026), 86-92. DOI=10.5120/cae2026652921
Timely completion of complex bioassays with absolute accuracy and minimal human intervention is a challenging task. Considering their sensitivity, sample preparation plays a crucial role in any bioassay protocol for efficient clinical diagnostics and functioning of Point-of-Care (PoC) devices. Conventional Digital Microfluidic Biochips (DMFBs) adopt a unit volume droplet mixing model to get the desired target concentration. To achieve the target concentration, fixed-size volumetric samples are used, and a positive integer mixing ratio is applied to get the concentration factor. However, volumetric error loss during splitting is inherent and may alter the concentration profile. Significant research is carried out on resource-limited sample preparation techniques and optimization on Micro-electrode Dot Array (MEDA)-based biochip in an automated manner. In MEDA-based sample preparation, the existing algorithmic design is used for dilution tree preparation in an automated manner. Both sample and buffer droplets of any size ratio can be merged, mixed, and diluted to get the target concentration factor for successful bioassay execution. On the MEDA-based platform, the manipulation of the fractional volume of costly samples (enzymes or similar bioanalytes) in a nano (10-9 L) or picolitre scale(10-12 L) is also possible, thus minimizing volumetric error in splitting steps over conventional mix-split. MEDA offers low-cost, strategic Point-of-Care (PoC) applications, DNA and RNA sequencing, immunoassays, and toxicity analysis in real-time on a module-based platform. Emerging applications of new-age Artificial Intelligence (AI), like machine learning, reinforcement learning, and neural network-inspired algorithms, will create a revolution in conventional disease diagnostics in a highly accurate manner and may make a game-changer in the biochip revolution also. This review work highlights the existing sample preparation techniques, architecture, and improvement on different algorithms in resource-limited single and multi-target concentration synthesis.