Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) is a major cytogenetic technique for 
clinical genetic diagnosis of both inherited and acquired chromosomal 
abnormalities. Although FISH techniques have evolved and are often used together 
with other cytogenetic methods like CGH, PRINS and PNA-FISH, the process 
continues to be a manual, labour intensive, expensive and time consuming 
technique, often taking over 3 5 days, even in dedicated labs. We have developed 
a novel microFISH device to perform metaphase FISH on a chip which overcomes 
many shortcomings of the current laboratory protocols. This work also introduces 
a novel splashing device for preparing metaphase spreads on a microscope glass 
slide, followed by a rapid adhesive tape-based bonding protocol leading to rapid 
fabrication of the microFISH device. The microFISH device allows for an 
optimized metaphase FISH protocol on a chip with over a 20-fold reduction in the 
reagent volume. This is the first demonstration of metaphase FISH on a 
microfluidic device and offers a possibility of automation and significant cost 
reduction of many routine diagnostic tests of genetic anomalies.