Microfluidic quadrupoleMOHAMMAD AMEEN QASAIMEH, MCGILL UNIVERSITY
THE DEVICE: Microfluidic devices offer precise, small-scale methods of delivering fluids to organisms, tissues, and cells. A microfluidic quadrupole, as developed by David Juncker at McGill University and his colleagues, provides a quickly-adjustable concentration gradient in a setup that is designed to minimally disturb cells. Such an apparatus could give researchers a system for exposing cells to signaling molecules, for instance, and watching cells' reaction right in the dish.
The gadget, about the size of a pen and clamped to a microscope, has four apertures: two for spraying the fluid, and two for sucking it back up. The injection and re-aspiration holes are one millimeter apart, arranged in a square. Re-aspirating the fluid is important for keeping the liquid local and not contaminating the entire ...
