Micronit’s flow cells make excellent tools to sort, count, manipulate and image cells. The dimensions of the microfluidic channels can be in the same range as cell diameters allowing single cell sorting and counting.
The superior flatness allows perfect optical imaging, the thin bottom makes it suitable for confocal microscopy. Flow cells can be made out of different materials e.g. fused silica glass that is transparent also in ultraviolet light.
Standard flow cells are hermetically sealed. Also resealable flow cells are an option.
Resealable Flow cells
The resealable flow cells are used when access to the inside of the microfluidic chip is required at some point in time. For example, for sensing applications the glass surface can be chemically modified using spotting equipment prior to an experiment. These chips are also suitable as a cell culture platform allowing cells to be harvested at the end of an experiment.
The resealable flow cell consists of a flat borosilicate glass bottom part and a top part. The top part is equipped with through holes and a gasket made from a solvent resistant elastomer. When mounted into the Fluidic Connect PRO chipholder the two glass plates are clamped together resulting in an airtight seal between the parts. In order to disassemble the flow cell it is removed from the Fluidic Connect PRO, extracted from the plastic slider and then the two glass parts can be separated without any effort.
Typical applications for these chips include:
- Cell culturing
- Integration of DNA or protein arrays