Biomedical Applications of Microfluidics

Catalog description

Study of fluid mechanics at small length scales including fabrication of microfluidic devices and microfluidic components, lab-on-chip concept and applications. BME 410 Biomedical Applications of Microfluids (3) Microfluidics is the study of flow phenomena at small length scales with characteristic channel dimensions typically less than the diameter of human hair. Small length scale effects become important as surface forces such as viscous drag and surface tension govern flow behavior rather than body forces (inertia) as seen in macroscale fluid mechanics. Miniaturization of fluid handling systems also allows the development of micro Total Analysis Systems (microTAS) or so called "lab on a chip" which combines biological sample preparation, separation and analysis in a single device. Topics explored in this class include: silicon based microfabrication and non-conventional micro/nano fabrication techniques; flow phenomena at small length scales, including laminar flow and flow resistance, inertial flow, diffusion, capillary effect, electrokinetic flow like electroosmosis, electrophoresis, and dielectrophoresis (DEP); microfluidic components including valves, pumps, mixers, sensors, actuators; lab-on-chip system concept and applications; hands-on lab to make and test microfluidic device; finite element simulation lab to gain better understanding of microfluidic devices.