A High Throughput and High Content Analysis of Cell Death Processes Using Microfluidic Image Cytometry (fic)

Microfluidic systems have significant implications in the field of in vitro cell-based assays and drug screening by virtue of their automation and high content screening capabilities. Here, we present our recent efforts to develop a microfluidic platform for high throughput and high content analysis of cell death event. A group of microfluidic devices for monitoring various cell death parameters was designed, fabricated and applied for the cytotoxicity assay of various toxicants. Particularly, the benefits of microfluidic image cytometry (μFIC), such as improvements in assay throughput, reduction in sample volume and labor-intensive manual operations, over conventional cell-based assay platforms (e.g., FACS) were discussed.