The researchers created a chip about one centimeter square that holds thousands of tiny vessels sitting on top of a material that contains numerous pores. This "nanoporous" material makes it possible to carry out reactions inside the vessels. The goal is to produce "laboratories-on-a-chip" less than a half-inch square that might contain up to a million test chambers, or "reactors," each capable of screening an individual drug.

The image shown on this page, taken with an optical microscope, demonstrates the successful test of the prototype. Purdue University researchers created a chip about one centimeter square that holds thousands of tiny vessels sitting on top of a material that contains numerous pores. The researchers tested the devices with an enzyme that produces a blue color when combined with a liquid that contains molecules small enough to easily pass through the pores. The enzyme was placed inside the vessels on the inner surface of the "nanoporous" membranes and the liquid was placed outside each vessel so that it covered the opposite side of the membranes. When the liquid diffused through the membrane's pores, it mixed with the enzyme, causing a reaction and turning blue in the process, which demonstrated that the device works.

Additional details of the work can be found at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/2005/050217.Lee.chip.html