Micro Elastofluidics: Elasticity and Flexibility for Efficient Microscale Liquid Handling

Abstract

Microfluidics is the science and technology around the behaviour of fluid and fluid flow at the microscale [1]. The small size allows processes such as chemical reactions to occur faster and consume fewer reagents. However, the small size also brings phenomena dominated by surface effects that are not encountered at larger scales; this makes storage, mixing, separation and delivery of liquids extremely difficult. One of the major and most successful applications of microfluidics is lab on a chip (LOC), shrinking down a lab-based protocol into a single microfluidic chip. This tool has been particularly useful for many functions in traditional healthcare such as drug delivery, clinical diagnostics, and point-of-care diagnostics. However, all current commercially available LOC platforms, including the more complex organ-on-a-chip (OOC) devices, are single-measurement tools. The recent emergence of wearable and implantable technologies, especially systems that can conform to skin and tissue surfaces, poses new challenges to structural integrity, electronics and fluid handling.