Reconfigurable microfluidics: technologies for spatio-temporal studies of heterogenous biological systems

I will present our work on scanning, non-contact microfluidic technologies that can dynamically shape liquids over surfaces without needing physical walls unlike standard microfluidics, which are typically closed. These technologies form 'hydrodyamic flow confinements' on a surface by the flow of a shaping liquid around a processing liquid. In this talk, I will discuss how these open-space embodiments enable chemical and biochemical reactions to be performed locally on immersed surfaces completely eliminating gas–liquid interfaces thereby providing new opportunities for handling, analyzing and interacting with biological samples. I will then describe two key application themes that my team has been pursuing in recent years. First is the precise patterning of surfaces with proteins and other biomolecules in an additive and subtractive manner, forming complex gradients on surfaces, and their interactions with cells on surfaces for use in biopatterning and measuring reaction kinetics. Second, I will present new concepts around tissue microprocessing for spatial multi-omic analysis of biopsy samples for possible use in pathology.