An acoustically driven microliter flow chamber on a chip (muFCC) for cell-cell and cell-surface interaction studies.

A novel method for pumping very small volumes of liquid by using surface acoustic waves is employed to create a microfluidic flow chamber on a chip. It holds a volume of only a few mul and its planar design provides complete architectural freedom. This allows for the reconstruction of even complex flow scenarios (e.g. curvatures, bifurcations and stenosis). Addition of polymer walls to the planar fluidic track enables cell culturing on the chip surface and the investigation of cell-cell adhesion dynamics under flow. We demonstrate the flexibility of the system for application in many areas of microfluidic investigations including blood clotting phenomena under various flow conditions and the investigation of different stages of cell adhesion.