Microfluidics systems work by using a pump and a chip. Different types of pumps precisely move liquid inside the chip with a rate of 1 μL/minute to 10,000 μL/minute. For comparison, a small water drop is ~10 microliter (μL).
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What is microfluidics technology?
Microfluidic technology, which refers to the control and manipulation of fluids in the range of micro to picoliters, has been coupled with paper-based devices to create advanced sensors with guided fluid flow for the detection of clinical markers.
What is the point of microfluidics?
Microfluidics for POC biosensors and diagnostics has proven to be an effective way of reducing the size, weight, cost, and assay time of infectious pathogens detection techniques. Combined with nanoparticles, those devices show an enhanced sensitivity compared with their corresponding bench top assays.
Why is PDMS used in microfluidics?
PDMS, as an elastomer, is known for its mold-release properties and ability to replicate features down to the nanoscale, with low shrinkage during cure (around 1%) and excellent elastic properties.
In what scale is microfluidics?
Microfluidics is the science of fluids on the micro and nanometer scale. How small is that? Well, 1 millimeter is equal to 1,000 micrometers, so microfluidic work is done on a scale of about 1/1,000th of a millimeter. For reference, typical bacteria is 0.2 to 2.0 micrometers in diameter.
Who invented microfluidics?
Frederick Stanley Kipping, the British chemist considered the father of silicon chemistry. The first microfluidic devices were usually made of silicon and glass since the fabrication techniques derived from microelectronics were well known [3].
What are microfluidic sensors?
The microfluidic sensor is a membrane-less galvanic cell which consists of two laminar flows running in parallel inside a straight channel. The sensor measures the potential difference between a solution containing 2,4-DCP and a reference solution containing acetate buffer.
What is microfluidic PCR?
Microfluidics have been widely used for different DNA amplification processes (PCR, qPCR, RT-PCR). Microfluidic devices allow to accelerate PCR processes, reduce reagent consumption, reach high-throughput assays and integrate pre or post-PCR assays on-chip.
Is microfluidics a good field?
On top of its high efficiency and convenience, microfluidics offers the essential benefit of low cost of production per device compared to other technologies. Not only is this effective for production, but it also allows for disposability [1].
How do you make a microfluidic chip?
- Keep the width of features (channels, chambers, …)
- Use no more than two layers including one feature layer sealed by a flat substrate layer.
- Keep aspect ratio (height/width) between 0.5 and 2.
- Keep features only on one side of a layer.
How wide are microfluidic channels?
The width of the channel is 250 µm, and flow is from left to right.
Is PDMS polar or nonpolar?
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)- non-polar SPME Fibers. SPME uses a fiber coated with a liquid (polymer), a solid (sorbent), or a combination of both.
Why is PDMS hydrophobic?
PDMS is a hydrophobic material (water contact angle >100°)6, which has consequences for droplet-based microfluidics. To successfully generate droplets, the continuous (i.e., external) phase needs to effectively wet the device walls; therefore, PDMS is ideally suited for the generation of water-in-oil (w/o) droplets7.
Why is surface modification necessary in microfluidics?
The polymer materials used for microfluidic devices are innately hydrophobic, low-surface-energy materials and thus do not adhere well to other materials brought into contact with them. This necessitates their surface modification/treatment to render them adhesive.
Which of these are the properties of a microfluidic device?
Microfluidic devices contain a palm-sized chip imprinted with very small channels and reaction chambers used to detect antibodies against viruses. The chip uses electrokinetic, capillary, vacuum, and other forces to mix and separate liquid samples. These chips are made up of polydimethyl sulfoxide, glass, or paper.
How does a lab-on-a-chip work?
The basis of the lab-on-a-chip dream is to integrate onto a single chip thousands of biochemical operations that could be done by splitting a single drop of blood collected from the patient in order to get a precise diagnosis of potential diseases.
What is PDMS microfluidics?
Polydimethylsiloxane, called PDMS or dimethicone, is a polymer widely used for the fabrication and prototyping of microfluidic chips. It is a mineral-organic polymer (a structure containing carbon and silicon) of the siloxane family (word derived from silicon, oxygen and alkane).
When was microfluidics first used?
Microfluidics emerged in the beginning of the 1980s and is used in the development of inkjet printheads, DNA chips, lab-on-a-chip technology, micro-propulsion, and micro-thermal technologies.
What is a microfluidic chamber?
The microfluidic chamber consists of a molded elastomeric polymer placed on a glass coverslip (Fig. 1A). A physical barrier with embedded microgrooves connects the somal and axonal compartments. Microgrooves that connect the compartments allow the passage of neurites to the axonal compartment, but not of cell bodies.
How do you clean microfluidic channels?
Remove resin trapped in cavities and internal channels of millifluidic and microfluidic parts using the Form Wash and a syringe filled with fresh IPA. Push air from an empty syringe or use compressed air to remove any residue inside the channels. During a print, resin can become trapped in small cavities.
What are microfluidic devices used for?
Microfluidic devices are used to measure molecular diffusion coefficients, fluid viscosity, pH, and chemical binding coefficients.
What is organ on a chip technology?
Organs-on-chips (OoCs) are systems containing engineered or natural miniature tissues grown inside microfluidic chips. To better mimic human physiology, the chips are designed to control cell microenvironments and maintain tissue-specific functions.
What is soft lithography technique?
Soft lithography is a technique for fabricating or replicate structures using elastomeric stamps, molds and the conformable photo-mask. It is called soft because it uses elastomeric materials most notably polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) (Zhang et al., 2019).
What is single cell PCR?
A high level of heterogeneity in gene expression profiles is observed among cells within a tissue or a cell population. Even cells with the same apparent phenotype can display wide variations in the set of expressed genes and their expression levels.
What is digital PCR used for?
Digital PCR (dPCR) enables precise, highly sensitive quantification of nucleic acids. Traditional PCR is an end-point analysis that is semi-quantitative because the amplified product is detected by agarose gel electrophoresis.