Microfluidics for Cellular Applications

Microfluidics for Cellular Applications describes microfluidic devices for cell screening from a physical, technological and applications point of view, giving a comparison with the cell microenvironment and the conventional instruments used in medicine. Microfluidic technologies, protocols, devices for cell screening and treatment have reached an advanced state, but, still, they are mainly used in research and for research purposes. They have not broken into practical applications and conventional medical procedures due to the fact that, most of the time, they are cumbersome to use, unreliable or require complicated or expensive set-ups to be handled. On the other hand, microfluidic devices can offer unique insights and analysis and can reach higher resolutions and fast operations in comparison to conventional medical and biotechnologies. This is an important resource for those from an engineering and technology background to understand more about the microfluidic methods that can be used to gain additional insights into cell screening processes. Outlines the major applications of microfluidic devices in medicine and biotechnologyAssesses the major challenges of using microfluidic devices in terms of complexity of the control set-up, ease of use, integration capability, automation level, analysis throughput, content and costsDescribes the major fabrication techniques for assembling effective microfluidic devices for bioapplications