Figure 4B shows the spread of a fluorescent plug introduced into a straight channel. As the plug moves along the channel, it spreads out due to a process called axial dispersion. As a result its length increases and its intensity decreases. Axial dispersion is often an undesired phenomenon observed in microfluidic devices.

This paper is the first to report the use of PDMS in the fabrication of microdevices and discusses its pros and cons. The paper introduced soft lithography based on PDMS as a novel fabrication method for microfluidic devices, which is commonly used in academic research and industry.

This paper shows an alternative form of fluid mixing in microfluidic channels. This method uses curved channels with serpentine geometry to mix fluids by generating chaotic flow similar to the one presented in this paper.

This article outlines a common use of microfluidics, that is the miniaturization of assays to run many of them in parallel at the same time ((high throughput assays). This paper addresses one of the main problems in assay miniaturization, which is efficient mixing of assay components.

This method of mixing can be adapted to most microfluidic devices as it has a negligible effect on the overall flow characteristics.

The mixing efficiency (which is a function of angular displacement) can be optimized by changing the shape and the dimensions of the ridges.

Earlier studies have discovered how these two parameters effect each other. The authors developed a model to predict the effect of each geometrical parameter on the mixing efficiency.

Lithography techniques rely on fabricating one layer at a time to construct device features at the microscale.

A dimensionless number that represents the ratio of the rate of transport by bulk motion of a fluid to the rate of transport by diffusion.

Re is an abbreviation for Reynolds number.

Ridge like structures used to disrupt laminar flow patterns

The spreading out of a solute in a stream of fluid.

A device that uses small amounts of liquid on a microscopic scale