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The introduction of microtechnology and microfluidic platforms for cell culture can dramatically enhance the pace of stem cell research. With the use of microfluidic-based techniques, extracellular microenvironments can be controlled in a precise manner, and their influence on various cellular behaviors can be studied. Microfluidic devices made of transparent materials allow real-time and high-throughput monitoring of cell functions and cell fate by using fluorescence microscopy and other optical techniques. This chapter gives a perspective on the considerable capability of microfluidic devices, which remain an underutilized technology for stem cell research. It provides stem cell researchers with a brief review of basic microtechnology and the application of microfluidics to stem cell research, as well as highlights to engineers the peculiarities of stem cell culture and experimental capabilities of microfluidics. In addition, it provides insights into creating integrated, modular, and easy-to-use microfluidic devices to perturb stem cells with biochemico/mechanical stimuli in a precise, controlled, combinatorial, and high-throughput fashion. |
