ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the microfluidic devices used in biomedical applications, with an emphasis on devices developed in an academic research setting and usable at the point of care (POC). It discusses how the choice of starting material has a fundamental influence on both the potential applications and the ease with which microfluidic devices can be fabricated in a lab setting. The chapter considers three fabrication processes: the processes inherited from the microelectronics industry to shape, add, or remove material via lithography, deposition, or etching, respectively; the molding processes adapted from industrial plastics manufacturing; and the rapid prototyping strategies that use lithography and direct writing methods. It also discusses the exciting potential of paper-based microfluidics. The chapter highlights recent technologies that have been developed to translate one or a combination of the three general steps in sample analysis onto a microfluidic platform: sample preparation, biochemical/molecular assays and partially and completely integrated systems.
