Microfluidic device

A device that controls or manipulates small fluid volumes through microscale channels, chambers, or other structures. It enables precise fluid handling with small sample and reagent quantities.

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Laminar flow: Fluid motion in parallel layers with little mixing between them. Microscale channels commonly keep flows laminar, making transport and mixing predictable.
Microchannel: A narrow conduit with microscale dimensions that carries fluid in a device. Microchannels are the basic routes through which fluid is directed.
Lab-on-a-chip: A miniaturized system that integrates laboratory operations on a small chip. Microfluidic devices provide the fluid-handling foundation for many integrated chip laboratories.
Batch processing: A production method that processes materials in discrete lots rather than continuously. It contrasts with continuous flow through microchannels, especially in chemical production.
Microfluidic standardization: Efforts to establish shared specifications, protocols, and interfaces for microfluidic technologies. Inconsistent designs and procedures make devices difficult to compare and reproduce.
Capillary action: Fluid motion driven by surface tension and interactions between a liquid and a solid surface. Surface forces can move fluid through narrow channels without pumps.
Polydimethylsiloxane: A flexible, transparent silicone elastomer widely used to make laboratory microfluidic devices. Its transparency and moldability made it a standard material for research prototypes.
Organ-on-a-chip: A microengineered system that models aspects of an organ using living cells and controlled fluid flows. Microchannels deliver nutrients and mechanical cues to tissue-like cell cultures.
Continuous-flow chemistry: Chemical synthesis in which reactants flow continuously through a reactor during operation. Microfluidic devices can implement continuous-flow reactions at small scales.
Microfluidic manufacturing: Methods for producing microfluidic devices at scale with consistent performance. Manufacturing cost and yield often limit transition from prototype to routine use.