In recent years, the application of the microfluidics in the single cell analysis has attracted more and more attention. The singlecell trapping is the basic and key component for the analysis at the single-cell level. The microfluidic chips usually have single-cell matched microstructures and could achieve the control of extremely small liquid volumes at the nanoliter and picoliter scale. Thus, the microfluidic chips are particularly suitable for the specific or high-throughput single-cell trapping. Moreover, the components for the posttrapping analysis of single cells could be integrated on the chip to build a high-efficiency and low-cost microfluidic single-cell analysis platform. This paper reviews and compares several microfluidic single-cell trapping methods, including hydrodynamic, optical, electrical, magnetic, and acoustic techniques. Future research in the single-cell trapping and analysis on the microfluidic chips is also discussed.

microfluidic chip  /  single-cell trapping  /  droplet microfluidics  /  dielectrophoresis  /  optical tweezer