Microfluidic technologies have garnered interest due to their capacity to rapidly process samples and accurately control fluids in an assay. This short study seeks to introduce readers to the fascinating realm of microfluidics by introducing some fundamental theoretical principles and illustrative applications. Additionally, the physics of microfluidic devices, the worldwide market, and material types employed are discussed. In the end, the authors analyze promising developments and extrapolate lessons that will help microfluidic technologies advance in the future.
TopIntroduction And Basics Of Microfluidics
Microfluidics is science and technology used to manipulate fluid flow at sub millimetre level1. It involves the use of microchannels, microvalves, micromixers/separators and micropumps to integrate and automate the biochemical processes. High-tech revolutions in a variety of biomedical fields, including as diagnostics, single-cell analysis, the manufacturing of micro- and nanodevices, organ-on-chip platforms, and med-tech applications, have been sparked by advancements in the field of microfluidics. The rapid progress is driven by the synergistic collaboration of key nanomaterial developments and creative microfluidic capabilities in a variety of biomedical applications. In many organic, synthetic, and design applications today, microfluidic devices play a crucial role. These applications use a variety of methods to build the necessary channels and emphasise measurements.
Over the past three decades, there has been a sustained research activity in the field of microfluidics owing to miniaturization (Figure 1). Even though the first microfluidic device was created in the 1970s, microfluidics did not become widely used until the early 1990s. For these years, the failure to incorporate microfluidic technology into basic and applied research has been blamed on the absence of novel, ground-breaking, and “out-of-the-box” applications. The mechanics, fluid dynamics, and thermodynamics that govern the operation of Lab on chip (LOC)systems are well understood; however, because of the condensed channel dimensions in microfluidics, the interplay of forces and their relative importance is completely different. As a result, a description of the scaling relations that exist between the macroscopic and microscopic systems is necessary.
Microfluidic technology is characterised by dimensions of the system used to manipulate fluids at the micrometre or sub-micrometre scale. At this length scale, the dominant fluid phenomena are quite different from those at the macroscale. At the macroscale, volumetric forces (such as gravity) are more dominant, but at the microscale, surface forces (such as surface tension and capillary forces) have the upper hand. These surface forces can be used for a variety of tasks such as forming monodisperse droplets in multiphase fluid streams, precisely patterning surfaces with user-defined substrates, filtering various analytes, and passively pumping fluids in microchannels. Despite these advances, the adoption of novel techniques has not matched the initial enthusiasm of the field.
Figure 1. Research articles per year
TopHistory Of Microfluidics
George McClelland Whitesides, field proponent, lists molecular biology, molecular analysis, microelectronics, and biodefense as the field's progenitors (Figure 2) (Whitesides, 2006). Despite the fact that the microfluidic technologies have been utilised in inkjet printers since the 1970’s, it was in late 80’s when the term was coined.
Microfluidics originated with the miniaturisation of analytical chemistry procedures for sample separation and analysis and this continues to be a primary emphasis of microfluidics today. The silicon-based chromatograph by Terry et al. (1979) is considered the first milestone in the field (Jerman and Terry, 1981). Following his publication, it became clear that microfluidics may help scientists create new, more effective techniques for analysing molecular data. Manz and other pioneers in the early 90’s highlighted the microfluidic potential for tackling challenges in analytical methods notably phenomena of electrophoresis. They also coined the term “micro Total Analysis System” µTAS for short. Although the initial emphasis of these “lab-on-a-chip” devices was on analytical chemistry, microfluidics has subsequently spread into a wide range of fields, including chemistry and biology (Manz, Graber, and Widmer, 1990).