title: Emerging microengineered tools for functional analysis and phenotyping of blood cells.
abstract: The available techniques for assessing blood cell functions are limited considering the various types of blood cell and their diverse functions. In the past decade, rapid advances in microengineering have enabled an array of blood cell functional measurements that are difficult or impossible to achieve using conventional bulk platforms. Such miniaturized blood cell assay platforms also provide the attractive capabilities of reducing chemical consumption, cost, and assay time, as well as exciting opportunities for device integration, automation, and assay standardization. This review summarizes these contemporary microengineered tools and discusses their promising potential for constructing accurate in vitro models and rapid clinical diagnosis using minimal amounts of whole-blood samples.
authors.affiliation: Integrated Biosystems and Biomechanics Laboratory, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Integrated Biosystems and Biomechanics Laboratory, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Weiqiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Integrated Biosystems and Biomechanics Laboratory, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Zida
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Precision Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China.
authors.forename: Hongchen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Integrated Biosystems and Biomechanics Laboratory, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: jpfu@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D001773:Blood Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D003584:Cytological Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000379:methods*
keywords: blood cell; functional analysis; microengineering; microfluidics; phenotyping