Fluicell BioPen open-channel microfluidic device

The Fluicell BioPen is a powerful open-channel microfluidic device for maintaining localised superfusion in single-cell experiments, enabling control of the chemical environment around single intact cells in tissue or cell cultures.

The product comprises a high-precision pressure controller, a disposable pipette tip inserted in a holder and PC software. It integrates with common micromanipulators and microscopes.

It is essentially a flow chamber where a small volume of fluid is spatially confined within another, significantly larger fluid volume. The two miscible or immiscible liquids are physically in contact, separated only by means of a virtual boundary. Mixing between the two zones is largely defined by diffusion. The experimental conditions necessary to achieve efficient confinement, while inhibiting diffusion across the virtual boundary, are characterised by low Reynolds and high Péclet numbers.

Applications include single-cell enzymology, ion channel kinetics, single muscle fibre physiology, single-cell viability, isolated exposure in brain slices, cell-to-cell molecular transport and biomembrane printing.