University of Illinois-Opto Mechano Fluidic Resonator OMFR

Flow cytometry has been a useful tool in pathology labs since the first machines were developed in Germany in the late 1960s. But while FC serves for cell sorting, cell counting and biomarker finding, it cannot analyze the mechanics that give cells their shapes, which is particularly important in determining pathological states. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, however, have built a high speed photonic device that could open a new window of diagnostics. As this piece says, “we have developed a novel microfluidic opto-mechanical device that enables high speed measurements of single particles within the microchannel. Sensing is performed by coupling light to vibrations in the structure—the vibrations are perturbed by the particles as they flow past at high speed, while light captures this information with very high bandwidth.”   MORE

Image Credit: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and QMed.com