Microfluidic flow focusing devices have been utilized for droplet generation on account of its superior control over droplet size. Droplet based microfluidics addressed many scientific issues by providing a novel technological platform for applications such as biology, pharmaceutical industry, biomedical studies and drug delivery. This study numerically investigated the droplet generation proce...

Microfluidic mixing plays a key role in various fields, including biomedicine and chemical engineering. To date, although various approaches for imaging microfluidic mixing have been proposed, they provide only quantitative imaging capability and require exogenous labeling agents. Quantitative phase imaging techniques, however, circumvent these problems and offer label-free quantitative informa...

This article reviews recent developments in droplet microfluidics enabling high-throughput single-cell analysis. Five key aspects in this field are included in this review: (1) prototype demonstration of single-cell encapsulation in microfluidic droplets; (2) technical improvements of single-cell encapsulation in microfluidic droplets; (3) microfluidic droplets enabling single-cell proteomic an...

Microfluidic devices have applications in chemical analysis, biomedical devices and ink-jets. An integrated microfluidic system incorporates electrical signals on-chip. Such electro-microfluidic devices require fluidic and electrical connection to larger packages. Therefore electrical and fluidic packaging of electro-microfluidic devices is key to the development of integrated microfluidic syst...

Microfluidic continuous cell separation based on hydrodynamic interaction in a microfluidic channel has attracted attention because of its robustness, high throughput and cell viability. This paper systematically gives an overview on recent advances in hydrodynamic particle and cell separation in microfluidic devices. It presents the basic ideas and fluid mechanics for the hydrodynamic interact...

An assembly approach for microdevice construction using prefabricated microfluidic components is presented. Although microfluidic systems are convenient platforms for biological assays, their use in the life sciences is still limited mainly due to the high-level fabrication expertise required for construction. This approach involves prefabrication of individual microfluidic assembly blocks (MAB...

A microfluidic device with integrated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was fabricated via in situ galvanic replacement of a pre-patterned copper substrate in a microfluidic channel. The integrated microfluidic device with AgNPs serves as a highly active Raman substrate which can be applied for in-channel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Preparation of the SERS active substrate and subseque...

Rapid fluid transport and exchange are critical operations involved in many microfluidic applications. However, conventional mechanisms used for driving fluid transport in microfluidics, such as micropumping and high pressure, can be inaccurate and difficult for implementation for integrated microfluidics containing control components and closed compartments. Here, a technology has been develop...

This article reviews recent developments in microfluidic systems enabling high-throughput characterization of single-cell proteins. Four key perspectives of microfluidic platforms are included in this review: (1) microfluidic fluorescent flow cytometry; (2) droplet based microfluidic flow cytometry; (3) large-array micro wells (microengraving); and (4) large-array micro chambers (barcode microc...

Increasing research efforts have been recently devoted to the coupling of microfluidic chip-integrated ionization sources to mass spectrometry (MS). Considering the limitations of microfluidic chips coupled with MS such as liquid spreading, dead volume, and manufacturing troubles, this paper proposed a new three-dimensional (3D) flow focusing (FF)-based microfluidic ionizing source. This source...