Dileep Mampallil,
Indian Institute of Science Education & Research Tirupati
Microfluidics refers to the field involving fluid manipulation in the micron scale. Microfluidic devices, often called lab-on-chip devices, are mainly comprised of micro-channels to transport fluids. Water, blood, or chemical solutions are examples of fluids involved. Many sensors that we use in our life use microfluidics. For example, the strip of a glucose test machine contains micro-channels to transport the blood towards the detecting area. Several types of sensors employed in hospitals, chemical industries, vehicles, and space explorations, etc. are related to microfluidic technology.
You may wonder what makes the microfluidic method different from a large scale fluidic flow. Physical mechanisms dominated in microscale devices are different compared to the ones in the large pipes. On the small scale, the dominant physical mechanisms are surface tension and other interface effects rather than gravity. This aspect allows us to control various processes precisely and reproducibly. It is the importance of microfluidic technology.
Typical microfluidic devices, or often called microfluidic chips, are made of glass, plastic, or polymer material. Micro-channels of different shapes and sizes are carved onto these materials with micro-fabrication technology in specialized dust-free labs called ‘cleanrooms’. Micro-valves and electrodes etc. may also be incorporated in such devices. For example, a sensor device for detecting cancer cells from blood may contain channels for transporting blood and mechanisms to separate the cancer cells from the blood. It may require mechanical or electrical techniques.
Numerous research areas use microfluidic technology for controlled biochemical processes. For example, Directed Evolution of new enzymes and drugs is a research area that makes use of microfluidics. Here, new enzymes are produced by evolving bacteria to do so. Microfluidics helps to capture individual bacteria in tiny drops. Among such millions of drops, scientists sort the ones containing bacteria evolved to have the right properties also using microfluidic technology.
Micro-droplets generated in a microfluidic chip.
Now, you might have guessed that Microfluidics is an area that is helpful in physics, engineering, chemistry, biology, and even medicine. Yes, that is true. It is an interdisciplinary area of research. Therefore, people who are trained in physics, various engineering areas, chemistry, biology, and even medicine can start research in microfluidics. You can become a scientist, for example, who design new microfluidic methods using physics, study biology with microfluidics, or develop sensors for numerous applications.
More technical information on Microfluidics is available from the below-mentioned references.