Dear Colleagues,

The manipulation of fluids and particles is of vital importance in biotechnology, chemistry and biomedical areas. Manipulations involve rotating, sorting and trapping, which can be achieved by various approaches such as, acoustic waves, optical method, magnetic method, and electric method. Cell properties including size, stiffness, impedance, are key parameters in analyzing the cellular processes. The interpretation of these properties has been recognized as a viable method for medical diagnosis and treatment influence evaluation. Methods developed for detecting these properties of cells include atomic force microscopy, micro-pipe aspiration, and optical tweezers, etc. However, these techniques generally suffer from low throughput with high cost. In this context, microfluidic systems have been exploited to probe these properties of cells. The development of methods for the cell manipulation and characterization show great potential in diverse biomedical applications. Microfluidics is widely studied as a next-generation technology for cell manipulation and analysis, for the fact that it provides methods for the handling of biological samples at micro/nano scale with high precision.

We welcome the submission of manuscripts including, but not limited to, the following topics: Special focus will be given (but is not restricted) to:

• Novel designs, fabrication, control, and modeling of microfluidic devices for cell sorting, isolation, detection, characterization, and analysis.

• New developments of microfluidic technologies for cell manipulation and detection.

• New applications of cell manipulation and detection for biomedical research and disease diagnosis.

Assoc. Prof. Yupan Wu

Section Editor