Microfluidics Overview

Abstract

Microelectromechanical systems and micro-fluidics are two fast emerging domains in diagnostics research. The Microsystems technology emerged as a fall out of the microelectronics industry mostly due to the obsoleteness of some of the microelectronic processes owing to integration density issues. The area was first widely explored in the mechanical and physical sensing domains and found wide interests primarily because of low overall size, high yields of production and ability to integrate with a variety of processes. The technology saw a turnaround towards chemical/biochemical sensing starting from the end of 80s as prompted by the fast molecular diagnostic requirements imposed by the gene sequencing industry fuelled by the Human Genome project. Microfluidics is mostly concerned with handling of miniscule samples of fluids of volume 10−9–10−18 L which is well suited to the handling of different expensive analytes important for diagnostics work. This technology has very prominent advantage with respect to low overall chip area and high integration density. For handling small volumes of fluid of the range indicated above various micro-channels and micro-confinements are devised using a variety of techniques in which the mixing, reacting, handling and transporting etc. take place. The main motivations of this field are powerful analytical and diagnostic techniques which have been parallel devised by chemists, biochemists and material scientists over the last couple of decades to understand the life processes for sustenance of life itself. These may include modern methods as used in chemical diagnostics.