Expertise reviews

Choosing the Right Microfluidic Pressure Range

Fluigent offers 10 pressure ranges for its different product lines. Which is the right one for you?

flow control technology: pressure controller comparison

Comparison between peristaltic, syringe and pressure pumps for microfluidic applications

This pump selection guide shows the advantages as well as the disadvantages of each method of fluid delivery in Microfluidics so it will help you to choose the proper one for your microflui

Advantages of pressure-based microfluidics

Extended capabilities of pressure driven flow for microfluidics applications

Microfluidic experiment often require a high level of control of fluids to permits reproducible results and the success of different application. To this purpose Pressure based flow controller are well suited for a various number of microlfuidic application when high stability is required such as cell perfusion and shear stress control or in droplet production when monodispersity is of high importance.

It also allows to generate complex flow profil such as sequential injection with aortic profil or when real time flow rate measurement is needed, a parameter that other fluid handling system can't offer.

Advantages of pressure-based microfluidics

Flow control for droplet generation using syringe pumps and pressure-based flow controllers

Droplet production using microfluidic systems was implemented for applications where monodispersity is of high importance. Syringe pumps are commonly used for generating droplets in microfluidic experiments, but can show limited flow control.. An alternative to syringe pumps are pressure-based flow controllers.

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Funded research program participation

Many national and internationally funded projects bring together science and innovation. These projects cover a large number of subjects. Fluigent takes part in several European and French funded programs to provide expertise and resources in microfluidics and related applications.

Droplet and particle generation in microfluidics

High Throughput Single Cell Analysis

Microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip technology have emerged as the most promising approaches to address these challenges. These innovative technologies hold the potential to unlock new insights into single cell properties and their roles within populations.

Droplet and particle generation in microfluidics

How to ask cells what proteins they produce?

The conventional way to isolate cells is by using Fluorescence Activation (FACS) to sort them into barcoded well plates (96 wells, 384 or 1536). This step is quite fast with the FACS currently available, but segregating thousands of cells into plates will result in a long process of pipetting. Droplet microfluidics allows for fast and low volume compartmentalization up to a thousand drops produced per second

Microfluidic chips

How to choose a microfluidic chip

With this review, we give you some advices on how to select the right microfluidic chip for your application.

Funded research program participation

INDEX | H2020 European project

INDEX: Integrated nanoparticle isolation and detection system for complete on-chip analysis of exosomes The aim of the European Union’s Horizon H2020 project, INDEX is to isolate and characterize exosomes available in body fluids through development and integration of novel technological breakthroughs.

Advantages of pressure-based microfluidics

Instrument Stability in Microfluidics

In microfluidic instrumentation, stability refers to the ability of an instrument to maintain a certain physical property at a constant value, while rejecting any perturbations in the environment. It is a very important parameter, as even small variations in physical quantities during microfluidic experiments can dramatically change the results. A stable instrument ensures that results are repeatable and reproducible.

Industrial/OEM Expertise

Key considerations for fluidic system integration

The choice of the right method of fluid management can often determinate the success of a project, as well as the overall time and cost of manufacturing. Here is what you need to consider and be aware of when integrating fluidic control into your system.

oem flow controller component performance

Industrial/OEM Expertise

Key reliability indicators for OEM components to ensure long-term performance of your flow control system

In this short blog, we review the most important aspects to consider when selecting fluid handling OEM components.

Microfluidic chips

Microfabrication of Microfluidic Chips: Materials and Methods

We discuss the main materials used for microfluidic chips, and their related production methods. In addition, we give you advice on which material one should use depending on the application.

Microfluidic chips

Microfluidic chips: key applications

We discuss some applications where microfluidics achieves results that would be very challenging to obtain when using conventional methods.

Droplet and particle generation in microfluidics

Microfluidic Droplet Production Method

Droplet microfluidics is a powerful tool which consists of generating and manipulating micron-sized monodispersed droplets.

Advantages of pressure-based microfluidics

Microfluidic Flow Control: Comparison between peristaltic, syringe and pressure pumps for microfluidic applications

To perform effective experiments in microfluidics, one needs to master the different flow control technologies available to use the most suitable way to control microfluidic flows. This article aims at presenting a short review of the existing techniques.

What is microfluidics?

Microfluidic Flow Sensing Technologies, A Review

Flow rate measurement is needed for many microfluidic applications, including microfluidic droplet generation, cell culture under flow, and organs on chip. Several technologies aim to provide accurate real time flow measurement to meet this need. In this review, the different existing microfluidic flow sensing solutions for low-flow liquids are described, with their advantages and current limits, as progress is still ongoing in this field.

Advantages of pressure-based microfluidics

Microfluidic instrument responsiveness

In microfluidics, response time is the duration between a command and the the start of flow (the first reaction of the microfluidic pump). When using a pressure controller, flow will start once a sufficient pressure rise occurs in the fluidic reservoir. The electrical and mechanical response times of the hardware components such as valves need to be as low as possible in order to decrease the response time.

What is microfluidics?

Microfluidic Resistance

Microfluidic flows are characterized by the prevalence of the viscous effects compared to inertia. From a physics point of view, this behavior is pointed out by a low Reynolds number indicating laminar flow. It leads to a drastic simplification of the complex Navier-Stokes equations describing fluid displacement.

What is microfluidics?

Microfluidic Tubing

Several parameters must be taken into consideration in order to choose the tubing:

Materials
Tubing dimensions such as the outer diameter“OD”, the inner diameter “ID” and the length “L”. For example the inner diameter plays a significant role in the resistivity brought by the tubing: the smaller it is, the more resistant the tubing will be...

What is microfluidics?

Microfluidic volume definitions

Most of the time, it is useful to know the total volume of one’s fluidic circuit. Volumes in microfluidics can be different from other areas. The chip has its own volume, tubing has an internal volume. Fittings like unions, adapters or tees can have an enclosed volume that will contribute to the total volume of a system. This is referred in specification sheets as “internal volume”.

What is microfluidics?

Microfluidics definitions and advantages

Microfluidics is the science of manipulating and controlling fluids, usually in the range of microliters (10-6) to picoliters (10-12), in networks of channels with dimensions from tens to hundreds of micrometers.

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Microfluidics for vaccines research and development

Microfluidic methods can be used to improve vaccine research and development. Microfluidic techniques are already used to develop adjuvants, perform virus identification/diagnostics, or drug micro and nanoencapsulation.

Microfluidic cell biology

Micropipette aspiration of cells and tissues

Micropipette aspiration is a powerful non-invasive technique to evaluate how biomechanical properties of single cells or tissue govern cell shape, cell response to mechanic stimuli, transition from nontumorigenic to tumorigenic state or morphogenesis

Microfluidic cell biology

Mimicking in-vivo environments: biochemical and biomechanical stimulation

Cells are constantly exposed to biochemical stimulation from the early embryonic stage to adult life. The spatiotemporal regulation of these signals is essential as it determines cell fate, phenotype, metabolic activity as well as pathological behaviors. The fast response and high stability of Fluigent instruments make them the best solution available on the market to reproduce these complex variations in vitro.

Funded research program participation

MYOCHIP | H2020 European project

Myochip: Building a 3D innervated and irrigated muscle on a chip

The aim of the European Union’s Horizon H2020 project, Myochip is to build a muscle on chip. Myochip gathers 4 partners from all around the world: The institute of molecular medicine (Portugal), The University of Edinburg (Scotland), and Institut Curie (France).

Microfluidic cell biology

Passive and active mechanical stimulation in microfluidic systems

Indirect mechanical forces and shear stress are integral parts of the cellular microenvironment. Reproducing these mechanical forces and shear stress is critical to capture the physiology of living tissues. Three types of flows are typically generated for producing shear stress : laminar, pulsatile, or interstitial flow.

Prostate organoid under fluorescent microscope

Microfluidic cell biology

Prostate Organoid Culture in Microbeads

Microbead-based microfluidics is a powerful technique for the generation of organoid cultures in 3D matrices to mimic the complex in-vivo environment that supports cell physiological and pathological behaviors.

What is microfluidics?

Software in Microfluidics

Software is widely defined as a set of computer programs, libraries and data that tell the computer how to work. A user can usually interact with a software through a Graphical User Interface or GUI, whose content is updated by the software’s engine. Our software tools are mostly dedicated to controlling our microfluidics instruments, allowing for remote instruments’ control and sensor’ data logging.

Microfluidic chips

The Raydrop: A new droplet generation device based on non‑embedded co-flow‑focusing

After introducing the Raydrop, Adrien Dewandre and his team from ULB demonstrate that this new configuration offers the ability to emulsify any liquid with a wide range of droplet sizes. This universality is demonstrated with experimental results. Modeling is also performed, supporting experimental results, and allowing for the prediction of droplet size and production regime (dripping, jetting regimes).

Event Lab on a Chip & Microfluidics Europe 2022

Microfluidic chips

What is a microfluidic chip?

We here define microfluidic chips and summarize microfluidic history.

Microfluidic cell biology

Why is a controlled shear-stress a key parameter of your microfluidic experiments?

Mechanical forces are potent regulators of cellular structures and functions in both health and disease. Of these forces, shear stress is particularly important as it stimulates the release of vasoactive substances and changes gene expression, cell metabolism, and cell morphology.