Structural and functional imaging of microfluidic bioMEMS using an integrated optical coherence tomography and multi-photon microscope

摘要

The advancement of microfabrication techniques has led to increasingly complex microfluidic and bioMEM (biological micro electromechanical) systems. Three-dimensional microstructures such as microfluidic mixing systems, valves, and separation channels have been developed for biological and medical applications including low-level environmental microbial detection, high throughput drug screening, and point-of-care bedside monitoring of bacterial and viral infections. The investigation and characterization of complex three-dimensional microfluidic and bioMEM systems, however, has been limited by the availability of non-invasive diagnostic techniques for analyzing the performance of system design and for monitoring the real-time dynamics of mixing processes occurring within these microsystems. The development of a non-invasive real time diagnostic imaging tool capable of micron scale resolutions in three-dimensions would significantly advance the field of microfluidics and bioMEMS by providing the necessary data on system design and performance