China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Light-Driven Microfluidic Systems
Published in George K. Knopf, Kenji Uchino, Light Driven Micromachines, 2018
The term optofluidics is often used to describe the integration of optical technologies with microfluidic components to create high-performance LoC devices and μTAS (Erickson 2008; Monat et al. 2008; Psaltis et al. 2006). The primary advantages of “on-the-chip” integration with optical technologies are the relative ease in which the optical systems on the device can be used to manipulate the fluid or, alternatively, change the fluid’s light transmission or spectral properties in order to manipulate the micro-optics. Unlike solids, the optical properties of the target liquid can be altered by mixing multiple streams of dissimilar fluids or replacing one fluid with another. It is also often possible to increase the rate of mixing two or more liquids by using a laser beam to alter the thermoviscous properties or increase molecular diffusion as discussed in Section 7.3.
Optofluidic devices and their applications
Published in Guangya Zhou, Chengkuo Lee, Optical MEMS, Nanophotonics, and Their Applications, 2017
Optofluidics is an emerging research and technology area that combines the two disciplines of microfluidics and optics [1,2]. The integration of fluids and optics has a long history. The first effort to combine these two fields was in the late 1600s, when inventor Stephen Gray described what was called a water microscope [3]. A small hole punched through brass served as the aperture for a static water droplet. The image focusing was done by winding a thumbscrew to change the distance of an object. However, since there was no specific way to tune the lens's performance with a water droplet, the optical power of the microscope remained fixed. A tunable optical element using a liquid interface was demonstrated in 1872 [4]. To adjust the focal length, mercury contained in a small vessel was rotated, and the parabolic shape of the mercury's interface was controlled by the rotational speeds. In the early 1990s, the field of microfluidics emerged to show the potential for lab-on-a-chip applications [5] and, in the early 2000s, microfluidic elements began to be used for optical devices such as microfluidic tunable optical fibers and optical switching bubbles [6,7]. With further technology developments and advances in microfluidics for small scale liquid handling, the field of optofluidics formally began to emerge in the mid-2000s and was identified by researchers who were seeking synergies between these two areas [8,9].
Systems Integration
Published in Frances S. Ligler, Jason S. Kim, The Microflow Cytometer, 2019
Jason S. Kim, Joel P. Golden, Frances S. Ligler
Two relatively recent areas of research provide new paradigms for the design of optical microdevices.5,6 Microphotonics strives to integrate the required optical devices on a single chip, and focuses on device size, functionality, and fabrication technology. Optofluidics combines optics and microfluidics on the same chip and utilizes microfluidic structures to impart novel functionalities to the optical components. The following subsections will provide examples of optical components, based on microphotonics or optofluidics, which could be included in microflow cytometers to make them smaller, cheaper, or more robust, or to impart functionalities not described in currently reported devices.
Determination of the antibiotic minocycline by integrated optofluidic microstructured polymer optical fiber chemiluminescence
Published in Instrumentation Science & Technology, 2021
Zhanao Li, Xinghua Yang, Pingping Teng, Depeng Kong, Shuai Gao, Zhihai Liu, Jun Yang, Danheng Gao, Meng Luo, Xingyue Wen, Libo Yuan, Kang Li, Mark Bowkett, Nigel Copner
Optofluidics, which integrates optics and microfluidics, makes full use of the interaction between light and fluid in the microscale.[1–8] Especially, the optical fiber can achieve the miniaturization of the experimental device. Moreover, optical fibers have a large specific surface area, which is more suitable for the interaction between light and matter.[9,10] Therefore, optical fibers have become an excellent platform for optofluidics. Microstructured polymer optical fibers (mPOFs) have unique advantages for optofluidics. In particular, the low processing temperature and easy cutting of polymers allow more freedom in microstructure design than quartz microstructured fibers (MOFs). The mPOFs also offer favorable mechanical properties, which may enhance the flexibility of the optofluidic device.[11–14]