There are tools used for manipulating tiny amounts of liquid, known as microfluidic devices. Typically these devices are used to stimulate human blood cells or other biological features, perform blood tests, or even detect contaminants in human blood. Microfluidic devices are used by the biomedical field as it allows many medical tests to be accomplished on a single chip. Microfluidic devices can also be used for drug screening, glucose tests and many other purposes.
However, fabricating these microfluidic devices is not easy. It requires a different configuration of interior passages, demanding a brand new design that must be molded or 3-D printed each time. In a recent report by the Journal of Micromechanics & Microengineering states that “Scientists from the University of California, Irvine have created Lego-style blocks out of a polymer called PDMS. Their bricks contained minuscule channels, half a millimeter wide, that allowed liquid to flow from brick to brick with no leaks. New devices could be created quickly by rearranging standard blocks into various configurations.”
This new technology makes it easier for scientists to create these microfluidic devices more quickly and ready for use! Check out the Tweet below from Science News to see what the fluid-ferrying Lego devices look like!
Legos have provided the inspiration for small, fluid-ferrying devices. https://t.co/MvkYvfhTdV
— Science News (@ScienceNews) January 26, 2017
Source: https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/construction-tiny-fluid-filled-devices-inspired-legos?tgt=nr