Patent ID: 8560130

Claim:
A system for emulating a lab-on-a-chip design, the system comprising: a plurality of electrically-powered controllable chemical process modules, the chemical process modules being of laboratory lattice-scale, each chemical process module for implementing at least one chemical reaction and comprising at least one chemical flow input port, at least one chemical flow output port, at least one communications interface employing a communications protocol and receiving communications signals, and at least one electrically controllable element responsive to received communications signals; chemical flow interconnections among at least a first and a second of the chemical process modules, the chemical flow interconnections comprising a chemical flow path connecting the chemical flow output port of a first chemical process module with a second chemical process module; and a network for carrying communications signals, the network connecting with the communications interface of the first chemical process module and with the communications interface of the second chemical process module, the network additionally providing a connection to a data processor, the data processor for executing algorithms for controlling the at least one electrically controllable element of each of the first and second chemical process modules; wherein the chemical process modules are controlled by an algorithm executed by the data processor to emulate aspects of at least one lab-on-a-chip; wherein each chemical process module is configured to be addressed via the at least one communications interface to implement the algorithm; wherein the chemical process modules and the chemical flow interconnections perform a chemical process that emulates aspects of the at least one lab-on-a-chip using the algorithm and numerical models; wherein the chemical process modules, the chemical flow interconnections, and the algorithm are configured to be reconfigurable to emulate at least portions of more than one type of lab-on-a-chip.