Hydrodynamic Confinements: An Enabling Bioanalytical Technology for Tumor Profiling
Govind Kaigala,
Research Staff Member,
IBM Research Laboratory
Traditionally, compartments are formed with hydrogels, multi-phase systems (droplets), or inkjets for interrogating biological systems. In contrast, we are developing ‘flow confinements’ which comprise compartments formed on a surface by the flow of a shaping liquid around a processing liquid. We termed these implementations collectively as tunable flow confinements (TFC). In contrast to standard microfluidics, which are typically closed, we are developing scanning, non-contact microfluidic technologies that can dynamically shape liquids in the "open space" over surfaces. TFCs are implemented using a liquid scanning probe called the microfluidic probe and function on standard biological substrates such as Petri dishes, slides, and tissue sections when the substrate is kept wet. In this talk, I will show how this family of liquid scanning probe devices is evolving as a versatile bioanalytical tool. I will also propose concepts pertaining to tissue microprocessing encompassing local phenotyping and molecular profiling, which may contribute to the multi-modal analysis of critical biopsy samples and conclude with a few possibilities beyond medical applications.
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