The study of the motion of fluids at a micro-scale. Microfluidic systems can be used for a variety of applications including drug dispensing, ink-jet printing, and general transport of liquid, gases, and their mixtures. Microfluidics systems offer advantages such as low fabrication cost, enhancement of analytical performance, low power budget and low consumption of chemicals. Nanofluidics are currently a topic of great theoretical interest, but with little real development at this time.
Handling of volumes of liquids as small as 0.1 nanoliter.
A general term for MEMS fluidic devices.
A multidisciplinary field comprising physics, chemistry, engineering and biotechnology that studies the behavior of fluids at small scales, often thousands of times smaller than a single drop.
Lab-on-a-chip technology based on the transport of nanoliter or picoliter volumes of fluids through microchannels within a glass or plastic chip. Microfluidics systems evolved from MEMS research.
A multidisciplinary field that studies the behavior of fluids at volumes thousands of times smaller than a drop. Microfluidic components form the basis of “lab-on-a-chip†devices capable of performing several different functions. Microfluidics is critical in the development of gene chip and protein chip technology.
Study of motion of fluids at a micro-scale. Microfluidic systems comprising nozzles, pumps, reservoirs, mixers, valves, etc., can be used for a variety of applications including drug dispensing, ink-jet printing and general transport of liquid, gases and their mixtures. Advantages of microfluidics compare to conventional fluidic systems are low fabrication cost, enhancement of analytical performance, low power budget and low consumption of chemicals.
A multidisciplinary field comprising physics, chemistry, engineering and biotechnology that studies the behavior of fluids at volumes thousands of times smaller than a common droplet. Microfluidic components form the basis of so-called “lab-on-a-chip†devices that can process microliter and nanoliter volumes and conduct highly sensitive analytical measurements. The fabrications techniques used to construct microfluidic devices are relatively inexpensive and are amenable both to highly elaborate, multiplexed devices and also to mass production. In a manner similar to that for microelectronics, microfluidic technologies enable the fabrication of highly integrated devices for performing several different functions on the same substrate chip. Microfluidics is a critical component in gene chip and protein chip development efforts.
Microfluidics deals with the behavior, precise control and manipulation of microliter and nanoliter volumes of fluids. It is a multidisciplinary field comprising physics, chemistry, engineering and biotechnology, with practical applications to the design of systems in which such small volumes of fluids will be used. Microfluidics has emerged only in the 1990s and is used in the development of DNA chips, micro-propulsion, micro-thermal technologies, and lab-on-a-chip technology.
