Total Analysis System

The Total Analysis System describes a device that automatically carries out all the steps required for a ( chemical ) analysis of a substance . This can e.g. B. include sampling, transport, filtration, dilution, chemical reactions, separation and detection and evaluation.

This term acquires special meaning in connection with µ-TAS, "micro Total Analysis System" (micro total analysis system). The structures of these systems are shrunk down to the size of a micrometer. The aim is to achieve an analysis laboratory the size of a chip ("lab-on-a-chip"). It would be cheap to manufacture, could contain other functions, and only required a tiny amount of the substance to be analyzed.

The term µ-TAS was coined in 1990 by scientists from Ciba-Geigy AG (Basel).

See also

• Microsystem technology
• MEMS
• Analytics
• Analytical chemistry

Individual evidence

1. ^ Manz A., Graber N., Widmer HM: Miniaturized total chemical analysis systems: A novel concept for chemical sensing; Sensors & Actuators B 1990, 1 (1-6), 244-248.