A microfluidics chamber is a device with a programmable design. A liquid or other fluid flows into one chamber and merges with another. The pump then stops, and the pipet moves to the next chamber. This means that the microfluidics chamber has a high contact angle between the chamber walls and the cell culture medium. The high-angle contact prevents bacteria from carrying over. Then, the liquid or other fluid flows out of the other chamber.
A microfluidics chamber also offers excellent optical clarity. The cells grow through the microgrooves embedded in the barrier. These chambers are now compatible with fluorescence, phase, and differential interference contrast techniques. The chambers are compatible with a variety of other microscopes. They are also suitable for cell-culture experiments. A standard inverted optical microscope equipped with a 20x objective and a CCD camera provides high-resolution images of the cells in the microfluidics chamber.
Microfluidics chambers are compatible with a wide variety of experimental methods. The high-resolution imaging is possible because of the high-precision optics. Because there are no solid walls, the fluid is more likely to be transparent than opaque. This results in greater sensitivity and higher yield. Because the cells are in a continuous suspension, they cannot be damaged or ruined by a high concentration of any compound. A microfluidics chamber can scale up quickly and easily, allowing for a high throughput of investigation. Compared to plate-based assays, the costs of these devices are lower. They are also compatible with a microscope setup, which allows for higher throughput.
Microfluidics devices allow control of fluidic interfaces and molecular gradients in a controlled microenvironment. Shi et al. designed a hybrid system with a microfabricated Campenot chamber and an inverted optical microscope equipped with a 20x objective. They also utilized a CCD camera, high-resolution imaging, and electrophysiological recording techniques to record the cell-rolling behavior.
A microfluidic chamber can be customized to suit the specific needs of a laboratory. In addition to the ability to create a customized microenvironment, microfluidic devices can control fluidic gradients and fluidic interfaces. In a recent study, Shi et al. developed a hybrid system of a Campenot chamber with a microfluidic device for investigating the effects of the adhesion protein N-cadherin on fibroblast growth factor receptor expression.
The microfluidic traps are used in neuroscience and cell migration experiments. These chambers are fabricated using soft-lithography processes. The process makes microfluidic devices reproducible, easy to use, and inexpensive to manufacture. Unlike traditional cell culture chambers, these devices can be made in a biology lab without clean-room facilities. There are a variety of chambers available to meet a range of needs. Explore more about this topic by clicking here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_microfluidics.
