Microfluidic is a multidisciplinary field that involves working with tiny amounts of fluids at micro and nano scale using microfabrication technology. It has emerged as one of the most promising fields intersecting engineering, chemistry, biology and medicine in the past few decades.

What is Microfluidic?
Microfluidic deals with the behavior, precise control and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small, typically sub-millimeter, scale. At this scale, the interactions between liquids and surfaces or interfaces dominate the physics. Microfluidic systems allow exquisitely small sample volumes to be manipulated and analyzed in an automated fashion.

History and Development of Microfluidic
The field of Microfluidic originated in the late 1980s from the broader fields of micromachining and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Initial work focused on developing micropumps, microvalves and other components for managing fluid flow on the microscale using photolithography techniques adapted from the semiconductor industry. Throughout the 1990s, researchers demonstrated increasingly complex microfluidic circuits for chemical and biological analysis as the fabrication techniques matured.

In the 2000s, the establishment of multi-disciplinary collaborations between engineers, chemists and biologists greatly accelerated the progress in Microfluidic. Significant advances were made in developing lab-on-a-chip devices for point-of-care medical diagnostics and analyses commonly done in molecular biology, biochemistry and cell biology laboratories. Commercialization of microfluidic instruments began in the late 2000s as reliable, inexpensive fabrication methods became available. Today, Microfluidic is a growing field with applications across many disciplines.

Fabrication and Design Considerations in Microfluidic
The size scales and precise control achieved in Microfluidic rely heavily on microfabrication techniques adapted from microelectronics. Materials commonly used include silicon, glass, polymers such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Photolithography and soft lithography are frequently employed to etch microchannels, obstacles and reaction sites into device substrates.

Surface properties play an important role and must be carefully engineered at microscale. Hydrophilic and hydrophobic areas are patterned to control fluid flow and wetting behaviors. Other design considerations include minimization of surface tension and capillary forces which become significant at small scales. Multilayer soft lithography allows construction of three-dimensional, intricate microfluidic circuits.

Applications of Microfluidic in Biology and Medicine
A major application area of Microfluidic is development of lab-on-a-chip devices that can perform complex biochemical analyses on minute fluid volumes. This enables point-of-care testing and portable diagnostics. Some key applications are:

DNA/RNA Analysis
Microfluidic chips have been created for genomic and proteomic analysis including DNA sequencing, PCR amplification, electrophoresis and immunoassays. Minute quantities of sample are sufficient.

Cell Analysis and Manipulation
Microfluidic traps, switches and sorts have been used to precisely control, manipulate and analyze single cells or even intracellular components. Applications include screening of drug impacts, tumor diagnostics and stem cell research.

Microphysiological Systems
“Organs-on-chips” are microfluidic constructs with 3D microenvironments that mimic organ-level functionality for testing drug toxicity, absorption and metabolism in a controlled, reproducible manner without animal trials.

Antibodies and Protein Study
Microfluidic has enabled high throughput screening of antibody libraries, protein crystallization studies and construction of biomolecular concentration gradients not possible with conventional methods.

Point-of-Care Diagnostics
Miniaturized devices for rapid, inexpensive diagnostics of diseases such as HIV, cancer, cardiovascular and lung ailments as well as food/water contaminants are promising applications at the forefront of commercialization.

Potential of Microfluidic in Other Disciplines
While biology and medicine have seen the most vibrant growth, Microfluidic has diverse implications in many other fields too with active research ongoing:

Chemical Synthesis
Controlled fluid flows and gradient generation allow for efficient multistep synthesis of complex chemicals and materials.

3D Printing
Microfluidic extrusion of specialized “bio-inks” could yield complex living tissue constructs for regenerative medicine.

Energy Technology
Novel methods for droplet-based batteries, fuel cells and solar cells exploit mass transport at microscale.

Environmental Monitoring
Miniaturized sensors for air/water quality monitoring could enable distributed, long-term environmental surveillance networks.

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