Lab-on-a-chip devices leverage microfluidic technologies to enable chemical and biological processes at small scales. However, existing microfluidic channel networks are typically designed for the implementation of a single function or a well-defined protocol and do not allow the flexibility and real-time experimental decision-making essential to many scientific applications. In this Perspective, we highlight that reconfigurability and programmability of microfluidic platforms can support new functionalities that are beyond the reach of current lab-on-a-chip systems. We describe the ideal fully reconfigurable microfluidic device that can change its shape and function dynamically, which would allow researchers to tune a microscale experiment with the capacity to make real-time decisions. We review existing technologies that can dynamically control microscale flows, suggest additional physical mechanisms that could be leveraged towards the goal of reconfigurable microfluidics and highlight the importance of these efforts for the broad scientific community.

芯片实验室设备利用微流体技术实现小规模的化学和生物过程。然而，现有的微流体通道网络通常是为实现单一功能或定义明确的协议而设计的，并且不允许对许多科学应用至关重要的灵活性和实时实验决策。在此观点中，我们强调微流控平台的可重构性和可编程性可以支持当前芯片实验室系统无法实现的新功能。我们描述了理想的完全可重新配置的微流体设备，它可以动态改变其形状和功能，这将使研究人员能够调整微型实验，并具有做出实时决策的能力。