The Reality of Lab-on-a-Chip Technology for the Mass Spectrometry Laboratory

I first discovered the promised potential of lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology at a Gordon Conference in the mid-1970s, when gas chromatography (GC) columns were reported on glass microscope slides. Since then, the technology's potential has fueled much innovation and product development. Yet this potential has not for the most part transmuted into practical, commercially available products. Although the widespread appeal of LOC generates much publicity and excitement, manufacturing a robust, reliable, and user-friendly device that is as good as or, ideally, better than established technologies has proven elusive. The technology's challenge, it seems, is twofold. One factor is technical: the difficulty (so far) to efficiently transfer "real-world" samples to the chip or miniature device. The other factor is human: our inborn resistance to accepting change, particularly when the perceived advantages of doing so are but minimal.