A microfluidic chip that can mimic the functions of a centrifuge without moving parts or external forces has been designed by Dino Di Carlo and colleagues from the University of California, Los Angeles. The Centrifuge-on-a-Chip uses fluid vortices to trap cells, and has been demonstrated to be effective in enriching rare cells from heterogeneous solutions and for performing labelling assays on-chip.
Automated cellular sample preparation using a Centrifuge-on-a-Chip
Albert J. Mach, Jae Hyun Kim, Armin Arshi, Soojung Claire Hur and Dino Di Carlo
Lab Chip, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1LC20330D
Shuichi Takayama and collaborators at the University of Michigan have provided a brief overview of current challenges associated with integrated microfluidic circuits – covering parallel, serial and embedded instruction devices as well as device architecture, and providing an outlook for the next generation of ICMs.
Next-generation integrated microfluidic circuits
Bobak Mosadegh, Tommaso Bersano-Begey, Joong Yull Park, Mark A. Burns and Shuichi Takayama
Lab Chip, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1LC20387H
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