Microfluidics

“I try to guide my research by ... asking myself the question, ‘What can we do today that will have a lasting impact and be conducive to a sustainable human civilization?’” says Rohit Karnik, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Rohit Karnik seeks sustainable solutions through nanotechnology

Engineer’s designs may help purify water, diagnose disease in remote regions of world.

September 1, 2016

A new microfluidic device that replicates the neuromuscular junction — the vital connection where nerve meets muscle — contains a small cluster of neurons (green) and a single muscle fiber (red). A fluorescence image, bottom, shows the motor neurons sending out axons toward a muscle strip over a distance of about 1 millimeter.

Replicating the connection between muscles and nerves

New chip could help test drugs for ALS, other neuromuscular disorders.

August 3, 2016

A photo of three microfluidic devices filled with food color dyes. The device, about the size of a credit card, is designed to help scientists narrow in on safe ranges of electric fields that might be used to noninvasively treat breast, lung, and other forms of cancer.

New microfluidic device offers means for studying electric field cancer therapy

Low-intensity fields keep malignant cells from spreading, while preserving healthy cells.

July 5, 2016

A new cell-sorting device consists of a microfluidic channel that vibrates at a very high frequency. As cells flow through the channel, they are pushed to a certain position depending on how they interact with the acoustic forces generated by the vibration. Pictured is an example of the device.

New approach to sorting cells

Microfluidic device distinguishes cells based on how they respond to acoustic vibrations.

May 16, 2016

Participants in the Monterrey Tec program visit with José Antonio Fernández Carvajal, chairman of the board of trustees at Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Monterrey Tec researchers exhilarated by nanotech challenges

The Tec de Monterrey and MIT Program fosters exchanges in nanotechnology and nanoscience, with the goal of helping the Tec to become a research university.

March 29, 2016

Using a new protein labeling technique based on squeezing cells, researchers labeled the nuclear envelope protein LaminA with green probes and histone 2B with magenta. Using traditional protein labeling, they also stained microtubules red and a lysosomal protein blue.

Cell squeezing enhances protein imaging

Compressing cells allows delivery of new fluorescent tags to track proteins in living cells.

February 1, 2016

An illustration of the surface acoustic wave generators, with the generated 3-D trapping nodes. The inset indicates a single particle within a 3-D trapping node, which can be manipulated independently along x, y, or z axes.

Acoustic tweezers manipulate cells with sound waves

Technique could enable 3-D printing of cellular structures for tissue engineering.

January 25, 2016

A patterned and cylindrical structure made up of carbon nanotubes.

New device uses carbon nanotubes to snag molecules

Nanotube “forest” in a microfluidic channel may help detect rare proteins and viruses.

December 21, 2015

MIT postdoc Davide Ciceri holds a microfluidic device he designed to study leaching of potassium from the silicate mineral potassium feldspar.

Leaching study boosts potash alternative

Microfluidic experiments show feldspar releases potassium at a higher rate than expected, suggesting new possibilities for using ground rocks in agriculture.

November 10, 2015