Promoting Microfluidics From the Lab to Real Biomedical Applications
An-Bang Wang, Distinguished Professor, Institute of Applied Mechanics, National Taiwan University
Microfluidics can bring significant advantages in various applications, e.g., chemical reaction, process control and bio-medical detection etc. In the past twenty-five years, we shifted the research topics from different microfluidic components for pure scientific interest, including micropump, microvalve, and micromixer etc., to various integration systems for potential industrial applications, e.g., microreactor / multi-emulsion generators, high-throughput fluid / flow properties analyzor, and the maskless pattern coating system by multi-phase microfluidic technology, etc. Recently, efforts were made for promoting the microfluidic applications in the life science studies and clinical diagnoses with the advantages of fast, easy use, and excellent cost performance. Examples include a sequential lab-on-a-chip control for biomedical point-of-care testing, and an extremely material- and time-saving TDC (Thin-film Direct Coating) microfluidic platform for fast immunoassay and detection, including the fast TDC WB (western blotting) for fast evaluation of neutralizing response to SARS-CoV-2 and fast TDC IHC (Immunohistochemistry).
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