A rotating microfluidic array chip for staining assays.

We have developed a microfluidic method to construct an array on a circular disk for staining assays. In this method, convenient centrifugal liquid pumping has been achieved within the spiral microchannels by disk rotation or spinning. Moreover, the liquids flowing in spiral channels effectively interact with the along-channel intercepted cell trapping holes. Live cells were encapsulated in wet low-melting point agarose along radial strips on the disk. When embedded in agarose, the cells remained viable to interact with, and respond to, test reagents. This method illustrates the potential use of the circular microfluidic chip to construct the cell array, intended for multi-cell multi-reagent tests.