Fundamentals of Microfluidics

Microfluidics enables precise control over fluid flow at a small volume, making it highly suitable for cell analysis. Microfluidic devices, often referred to as “lab-on-a-chip”, have been extensively utilized to study individual cells with high resolution and minimal reagent use. In this chapter, we introduce the fundamental principles of microfluidics within the context of cell analysis. The behavior of fluid flow at microscale is first described, with a primary focus on laminar flow. Subsequently, basic fluidic control components, such as micropumps and microvalves, are discussed. In the third section, various advanced fluidic control techniques widely used for cell manipulations are introduced, including inertial flow, micro-magnetofluidics, droplet-based microfluidics, and acoustic flow.