Glow discharge in microfluidic chips for visible analog computing

Lab Chip. 2002 May;2(2):113-6. doi: 10.1039/b200589a. Epub 2002 Apr 29.

Abstract

Here we present a novel visible analog computing approach for solving a wide class of shortest path problems. Using a microfluidic chip for computation, based on the lighting up of a glow discharge, the solution to maze search problems, the solution of a network shortest path and k-shortest paths problems and the practical application of finding the shortest paths between several landmarks from a street map are presented. The solution and visible display (in real time) for these problems shows only a small difference in practical problem solving time among problems with varying differences in size.