User:Mcdaida/Mesofluidics

Mesofluidics deals with the behavior, precise control and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small, typically sub-centimeter, scale.

Typically fluids are moved, mixed, separated or otherwise processed.

It is a multidisciplinary field intersecting engineering, physics, chemistry and biotechnology, with practical applications to bionics, biology, drug testing.

Bionics
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA) has done work on an artificial hand powered by miniature hydraulics: "Mesofluidics is the application of millimeter- to centimeter-sized hydraulics to problems that require substantial amounts of power to be generated and applied in a limited space. 'One of the first things we demonstrated in this relatively new area of research was an artificial finger powered by mesofluidics,' says (Lonnie) Love. The unique thing about this accomplishment was that all the control valves and other equipment required to operate the finger were small enough to fit inside the finger. Despite their miniature size, the hydraulics in the finger provide about 20 pounds of pinch force—about twice the force generated by a human finger."