Microfluidic technology involves moving tiny amounts of liquids to perform various functions: ink in an inkjet printer, solder on an electronics board, bodily fluids within a medical device to perform chemical analyses. The use of this technology isn’t exactly new, but its popularity is rapidly rising.
Multilayered microfluidic devices — the majority of microfluidic devices — typically have channels built into the device through which the specific amount of fluid flows at a particular speed and path. Construction is accomplished by either adding channels between layers or subtracting material from a solid sheet to form channels. These individual layers eventually need to come together in one usable package or device.