Review Article: Recent advancements in optofluidic flow cytometer.

There is an increasing need to develop optofluidic flow cytometers. Optofluidics, where optics and microfluidics work together to create novel functionalities on a small chip, holds great promise for lab-on-a-chip flow cytometry. The development of a low-cost, compact, handheld flow cytometer and microfluorescence-activated cell sorter system could have a significant impact on the field of point-of-care diagnostics, improving health care in, for example, underserved areas of Africa and Asia, that struggle with epidemics such as HIV∕AIDS.

Human mammalian cell sorting using a highly integrated micro-fabricated fluorescence-activated cell sorter (microFACS).

We demonstrate a high performance microfabricated FACS system with highly integrated microfluidics, optics, acoustics, and electronics. Single cell manipulation at a high speed is made possible by the fast response time (approximately 0.1 ms) of the integrated PZT actuator and the nozzle structure at the sorting junction.