Microfluidic methods offer a continually expanding toolkit in elucidating mechanisms at the molecular and cellular scale. In my talk, I will describe two microfluidic methods enabling biophysical measurements from biomolecules, cells, and biofluids. First, I will talk about the hydrodynamic trap, a confinement and manipulation method for micro and nanoscale particles. Relying merely on fluid flow, this method allows for trapping and isolation of single biomolecules (e.g. DNA), vesicles, and single bacterial/mammalian cells with a trap stiffness comparable to that of magnetic tweezers. I will provide a brief overview of the fundamental principles of this method, and demonstrate some applications on studying molecular processes and cellular response to stimuli. In the second part of my talk, I will present a new method for real-time, continuous measurements of viscosity in biofluids. Using flow-induced deformation of micropillar structures, we determine the viscosity of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids such as blood. I will describe an emerging application of this method in monitoring blood coagulation for diagnostic purposes.
Last update: 09/23/2021, Ralf Bundschuh