3. Brief Introduction to Biomedical Microsystems for Interacting with Cells

Understanding how cells behave and interact with surrounding cells, tissues, microorganisms and all types of biological, biochemical and biomechanical cues from their environment, constitutes a relevant research challenge and requires the support, not only of advanced manipulation and imaging technologies, but also of specifically designed biomedical microsystems with micrometric and even nanometric details for enabling interactions at a cellular and molecular level. These types of microsystems, together with the use of advanced design and manufacturing strategies for their efficient development, constitute the core topic of present Handbook. Among the biomedical microsystems aimed at interacting with and studying the behavior of cells, it is important to mention the following areas of research and application: microsystems for disease management, microsystems for understanding cell activities, scaffolds for tissue engineering, cell-based sensors and actuators and microsystems for modeling life by controlling cells using microfluidic environments. This chapter provides an introduction to these different types of biomedical microdevices and to the related basic concepts, to which we will get back in subsequent chapters linked to design, manufacturing, biofunctionalization and testing strategies and to the complete development of different cases of studies linked to the aforementioned families of biomedical microdevices. Main current research trends are also outlined.