Microfluidic instrumentation for microvascular research

We present an application of micromachined silicon microfluidic flow cells for the in-vitro measurement of blood flow at dimensions comparable to those of the physiological capillary system. In order to address these problems we have developed an instrument allying microengineering with real-time image processing and `mesofluidic´ control systems. The work described is centered at the University of Hertfordshire but we wish to highlight the very important contributions being made by our colleagues at Imperial College, London and Technical University Chemnitz-Zwickau in Germany