Microfluidic Research Applications

Microfluidics offers innovative ways of studying cellular behaviors. Its ability to control flow in a precise manner offers new ways of studying cell interactions with drugs, other cells or bacteria in single-cell conditions, as well as cell response to a mechanical stress or even efficient sorting of cells from complex cellular populations using fluorescence-based or biomechanics-based methods.

The concept of this microfluidic research application is to reproduce organ functions (lungs, gut, cartilage, heart, etc.) within a cell culture incubated inside a microfluidic chip. The ability of microfluidics to mimic the in-vivo cellular microenvironment by reproducing blood or interstitial fluid flows to provide cells with a nutrient supply and mechanical constraints makes it the ideal tool for this application. Little by little, organ-on-a-chip technologies are overtaking conventional techniques, which are less physiologically relevant.

One of the best-known research topics in microfluidics with a diverse range of applications is the generation of highly-monodisperse droplets. Through the use of channel geometry, immiscible fluid properties, and precise flow control, single or double droplets with diameters from 10 to a few hundred micrometers can be produced at high throughput rates (up to 10kHz). In the last decade, monodisperse droplet production has drawn considerable interest in the scientific community, with a variety of applications in single-cell analysis, drug delivery, sequencing, and other fields of research. 

Cell biology is at the heart of medical science. Researchers seek to understand how cells organize to form human tissue, how they communicate with each other, how they respond to infections or other pathologies, and how we can help them to fight such pathologies with drugs or other treatments. Microfluidics brings applications of this research to a higher level with reduced costs, faster experiments, enhanced detection thresholds, and strong multiplexing potential.