Abstract
Well-designed microfluidic platforms can be excellent tools to eliminate bottleneck problems or issues that have arisen in biological fields by providing unprecedented high-resolution control of mechanical and chemical microenvironments for cell culture. Among such microtechnologies, the precise generation of biochemical concentration gradients has been highly regarded in the biorelated scientific fields; even today, the principles and mechanisms for gradient generation continue to be refined, and the number of applications for this technique is growing. Here, we review the current status of the concentration gradient generation technologies achieved in various microplatforms and how they have been and will be applied to biological issues, particularly those that have arisen from cancer research, stem cell research, and tissue engineering. We also provide information about the advances and future challenges in the technological aspects of microscale concentration gradient generation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 82-95 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of laboratory automation |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 Apr 1 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the Chung-Ang University research scholarship grants (2013) and by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2012R1A1A1015181).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, 2014 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.
Keywords
- fabrication
- lab-on-a-chip
- microfluidics
- microtechnology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Computer Science Applications
- Medical Laboratory Technology
