title: Microfluidic technologies in clinical diagnostics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Laboratory instrumentation and analytical devices are becoming smaller, simpler, and smarter. This trend to miniaturization extends to fluid handling and fluid analysis. However, fluid behavior undergoes significant changes as geometric scale decreases. The laminar flow behavior of fluids in microfluidic devices must be accommodated in the design and development of clinical and bio-clinical miniaturized systems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The scale of chemical and clinical analysis systems will continue to decrease. The capability to manufacture smaller fluidic devices and to quantitatively monitor smaller volumes of liquids bring this process of miniaturization into the domain of laminar flow. New and enabling technologies are being developed using the unique diffusion-based characteristics of the laminar flow domain for sample preparation and analysis. These new analytical systems will have a significant impact on the future of clinical diagnostics.
authors.affiliation: Micronics, Inc., Redmond, WA, USA. tomschulte@micronics.net
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Schulte
authors.forename: Ron L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Bardell
authors.forename: Bernhard H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Weigl
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000737:chemistry*; D002624:Chemistry, Clinical / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004058:Diffusion; D006801:Humans; D008832:Microchemistry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008904:Miniaturization / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods