The study of fluid channels and chambers of tiny dimensions of tens to hundreds of micrometers and volumes of nanoliters or picoliters. This is of interest in biological MICROCIRCULATION and used in MICROCHEMISTRY and INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES.
Methods utilizing the principles of MICROFLUIDICS for sample handling, reagent mixing, and separation and detection of specific components in fluids.
Microdevices that combine microfluidics technology with electrical and/or mechanical functions for analyzing very small fluid volumes. They consist of microchannels etched into substrates made of silicon, glass, or polymer using processes similar to photolithography. The test fluids in the channels can then interact with different elements such as electrodes, photodetectors, chemical sensors, pumps, and valves.
Silicone polymers which consist of silicon atoms substituted with methyl groups and linked by oxygen atoms. They comprise a series of biocompatible materials used as liquids, gels or solids; as film for artificial membranes, gels for implants, and liquids for drug vehicles; and as antifoaming agents.
Manufacturing technology for making microscopic devices in the micrometer range (typically 1-100 micrometers), such as integrated circuits or MEMS. The process usually involves replication and parallel fabrication of hundreds or millions of identical structures using various thin film deposition techniques and carried out in environmentally-controlled clean rooms.
The design or construction of objects greatly reduced in scale.
Assaying the products of or monitoring various biochemical processes and reactions in an individual cell.
Methods of creating machines and devices.
Methods used to measure the relative activity of a specific enzyme or its concentration in solution. Typically an enzyme substrate is added to a buffer solution containing enzyme and the rate of conversion of substrate to product is measured under controlled conditions. Many classical enzymatic assay methods involve the use of synthetic colorimetric substrates and measuring the reaction rates using a spectrophotometer.
The preparation and analysis of samples on miniaturized devices.
Alicyclic hydrocarbons in which three or more of the carbon atoms in each molecule are united in a ring structure and each of the ring carbon atoms is joined to two hydrogen atoms or alkyl groups. The simplest members are cyclopropane (C3H6), cyclobutane (C4H8), cyclohexane (C6H12), and derivatives of these such as methylcyclohexane (C6H11CH3). (From Sax, et al., Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 11th ed)
Any of a variety of procedures which use biomolecular probes to measure the presence or concentration of biological molecules, biological structures, microorganisms, etc., by translating a biochemical interaction at the probe surface into a quantifiable physical signal.
The study, control, and application of the conduction of ELECTRICITY through gases or vacuum, or through semiconducting or conducting materials. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)
Pieces of glass or other transparent materials used for magnification or increased visual acuity.
The development and use of techniques to study physical phenomena and construct structures in the nanoscale size range or smaller.
The study of the structure, behavior, growth, reproduction, and pathology of cells; and the function and chemistry of cellular components.
Controlled operations of analytic or diagnostic processes, or systems by mechanical or electronic devices.
Rapid methods of measuring the effects of an agent in a biological or chemical assay. The assay usually involves some form of automation or a way to conduct multiple assays at the same time using sample arrays.
A highly miniaturized version of ELECTROPHORESIS performed in a microfluidic device.
Antibodies that are chemically bound to a substrate material which renders their location fixed.
The quality or state of being wettable or the degree to which something can be wet. This is also the ability of any solid surface to be wetted when in contact with a liquid whose surface tension is reduced so that the liquid spreads over the surface of the solid.
The evaluation of incidents involving the loss of function of a device. These evaluations are used for a variety of purposes such as to determine the failure rates, the causes of failures, costs of failures, and the reliability and maintainability of devices.
Electric conductors through which electric currents enter or leave a medium, whether it be an electrolytic solution, solid, molten mass, gas, or vacuum.
The chemical processes, enzymatic activities, and pathways of living things and related temporal, dimensional, qualitative, and quantitative concepts.
Methods for maintaining or growing CELLS in vitro.
Characteristics or attributes of the outer boundaries of objects, including molecules.
The development and use of techniques and equipment to study or perform chemical reactions, with small quantities of materials, frequently less than a milligram or a milliliter.
Compounds formed by the joining of smaller, usually repeating, units linked by covalent bonds. These compounds often form large macromolecules (e.g., BIOPOLYMERS; PLASTICS).
The utilization of an electrical current to measure, analyze, or alter chemicals or chemical reactions in solution, cells, or tissues.
A specialized field of physics and engineering involved in studying the behavior and properties of light and the technology of analyzing, generating, transmitting, and manipulating ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION in the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet range.
The application of electronic, computerized control systems to mechanical devices designed to perform human functions. Formerly restricted to industry, but nowadays applied to artificial organs controlled by bionic (bioelectronic) devices, like automated insulin pumps and other prostheses.
Exfoliate neoplastic cells circulating in the blood and associated with metastasizing tumors.
Cell separation is the process of isolating and distinguishing specific cell types or individual cells from a heterogeneous mixture, often through the use of physical or biological techniques.
A technique using antibodies for identifying or quantifying a substance. Usually the substance being studied serves as antigen both in antibody production and in measurement of antibody by the test substance.
Laboratory and other services provided to patients at the bedside. These include diagnostic and laboratory testing using automated information entry.
Carbonic acid calcium salt (CaCO3). An odorless, tasteless powder or crystal that occurs in nature. It is used therapeutically as a phosphate buffer in hemodialysis patients and as a calcium supplement.
Relatively undifferentiated cells that retain the ability to divide and proliferate throughout postnatal life to provide progenitor cells that can differentiate into specialized cells.
Great Britain is not a medical term, but a geographical name for the largest island in the British Isles, which comprises England, Scotland, and Wales, forming the major part of the United Kingdom.