Label-Free Chemical Detection in Microfabricated Devices Using FT-IR Spectroscopic Imaging

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic imaging is a highly versatile technique that can be applied to a wide range of systems. This article summarizes some of the recent efforts developing applications of FT-IR imaging for microfluidics. The main advantage of FT-IR imaging compared to traditional imaging methods is that it is a label-free imaging technique. There is no need to develop tags or labels, multiple components are simultaneously traced, and images can be taken without disturbing the sample. All of these advantages are accompanied with a near-video frame rate acquisition speed. Different approaches to obtain FT-IR images (transmission and attenuated total reflection mode) of microfluidic devices are discussed including novel ways to create microfluidic devices.