Preventing Cell Lysis with Hafnium Oxide (VIDEO) Michigan Technological University This video is under embargo. Please login to access this video. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Caption Lab-on-a-chip devices harness electrical signals to measure glucose, tell apart blood type and detect viruses or cancer. But biological samples need protection from the electric fields. A thin layer of hafnium oxide does the trick. It keeps red blood cell lysis in check while preserving the device's electrical fields and is also clear so engineers can still observe the microfluidics and inner workings with a microscope. Credit Sanaz Habibi and Ben Jaszczak/Michigan Tech Usage Restrictions please credit License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.