Multiphysics microfluidics for cell manipulation and separation: a review

Abstract

Multiphysics microfluidics, which combines multiple functional physics in a microfluidic platform, is an emerging research area that attracts increasing interest in diverse biomedical applications. Multiphysics microfluidics is expected to overcome...

Tuning particle inertial separation in sinusoidal channels by embedding periodic obstacle microstructures

“…The ability to separate biological cells or micrometre-scale particles is imperative in biological studies, cellular analysis, pharmaceutical drug development, cell therapy, and chemical industries. [1][2][3] Conventional separation methods such as filtration, centrifugation, magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), can effectively separate particles/cells. 4,5 However, these separation techniques are limited by either high cost (labelling agent, magnetic beads and sophisticated equipment), altered cell viability and functionality by fluorophores and antibodies, demand for highly-skilled operators, clogging and fouling, or extended processing time.…”

“…A promising solution is to connect two or more functional units serially so that samples can be purified consecutively during single processing. 3 However, the functioning of inertial channels is highly dependent on fluid flow speed, and there is a lack of a way to adapt the flow rate between upstream and downstream channels.…”

Fabrication and Manipulation of Non-Spherical Particles in Microfluidic Channels: A Review

“…The typical micro scale particle manipulation methods with microfluidics can be classified into active and passive techniques [ 11 ]. The active techniques, including acoustophoresis [ 12 ], optical tweezers [ 13 , 14 ], di-electrophoresis(DEP) [ 15 , 16 , 17 ] and magneto-phoresis [ 18 , 19 ], have attracted a great deal of attention for their competitive advantages of precision and accuracy.…”

On-demand deterministic release of particles and cells using stretchable microfluidics

“…[8][9][10] Benefiting from the precise control of fluid flow motion in microchannels, microfluidics has facilitated cell capture and release processes. [11][12][13] Furthermore, microfluidics enables precise control over cell quantity and concentration, leading to higher accuracy than conventional methods. These advanced features allow for the analysis of the morphology and physiology of single cells.…”