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Journal articles on the topic 'Microfluidic processes'
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1
Babikian, Sarkis, Brian Soriano, G. P. Li, and Mark Bachman. "Laminate Materials for Microfluidic PCBs." International Symposium on Microelectronics 2012, no. 1 (January 1, 2012): 000162–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.4071/isom-2012-ta54.
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The printed circuit board (PCB) is a very attractive platform to produce highly integrated highly functional microfluidic devices. We have investigated laminate materials and developed novel fabrication processes to realize low cost and scalable to manufacturing integrated microfluidics on PCBs. In this paper we describe our vision to integrate functional components with microfluidic channels. We also report on the use of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) as a laminate for microfluidics. The material was characterized for microfluidic applications and compared with our previously reported laminates: 1002F and Polyurethane.
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Bianchi, Jhonatan Rafael de Oliveira, Lucimara Gaziola de la Torre, and Ana Leticia Rodrigues Costa. "Droplet-Based Microfluidics as a Platform to Design Food-Grade Delivery Systems Based on the Entrapped Compound Type." Foods 12, no. 18 (September 9, 2023): 3385. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods12183385.
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Microfluidic technology has emerged as a powerful tool for several applications, including chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering. Due to the laminar regime, droplet-based microfluidics enable the development of diverse delivery systems based on food-grade emulsions, such as multiple emulsions, microgels, microcapsules, solid lipid microparticles, and giant liposomes. Additionally, by precisely manipulating fluids on the low-energy-demand micrometer scale, it becomes possible to control the size, shape, and dispersity of generated droplets, which makes microfluidic emulsification an excellent approach for tailoring delivery system properties based on the nature of the entrapped compounds. Thus, this review points out the most current advances in droplet-based microfluidic processes, which successfully use food-grade emulsions to develop simple and complex delivery systems. In this context, we summarized the principles of droplet-based microfluidics, introducing the most common microdevice geometries, the materials used in the manufacture, and the forces involved in the different droplet-generation processes into the microchannels. Subsequently, the encapsulated compound type, classified as lipophilic or hydrophilic functional compounds, was used as a starting point to present current advances in delivery systems using food-grade emulsions and their assembly using microfluidic technologies. Finally, we discuss the limitations and perspectives of scale-up in droplet-based microfluidic approaches, including the challenges that have limited the transition of microfluidic processes from the lab-scale to the industrial-scale.
3
Alexandre-Franco, María F., Rahmani Kouider, Raúl Kassir Al-Karany, Eduardo M. Cuerda-Correa, and Awf Al-Kassir. "Recent Advances in Polymer Science and Fabrication Processes for Enhanced Microfluidic Applications: An Overview." Micromachines 15, no. 9 (September 6, 2024): 1137. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi15091137.
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This review explores significant advancements in polymer science and fabrication processes that have enhanced the performance and broadened the application scope of microfluidic devices. Microfluidics, essential in biotechnology, medicine, and chemical engineering, relies on precise fluid manipulation in micrometer-sized channels. Recent innovations in polymer materials, such as flexible, biocompatible, and structurally robust polymers, have been pivotal in developing advanced microfluidic systems. Techniques like replica molding, microcontact printing, solvent-assisted molding, injection molding, and 3D printing are examined, highlighting their advantages and recent developments. Additionally, the review discusses the diverse applications of polymer-based microfluidic devices in biomedical diagnostics, drug delivery, organ-on-chip models, environmental monitoring, and industrial processes. This paper also addresses future challenges, including enhancing chemical resistance, achieving multifunctionality, ensuring biocompatibility, and scaling up production. By overcoming these challenges, the potential for widespread adoption and impactful use of polymer-based microfluidic technologies can be realized.
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Bouhid de Aguiar, Izabella, and Karin Schroën. "Microfluidics Used as a Tool to Understand and Optimize Membrane Filtration Processes." Membranes 10, no. 11 (October 29, 2020): 316. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes10110316.
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Membrane filtration processes are best known for their application in the water, oil, and gas sectors, but also in food production they play an eminent role. Filtration processes are known to suffer from a decrease in efficiency in time due to e.g., particle deposition, also known as fouling and pore blocking. Although these processes are not very well understood at a small scale, smart engineering approaches have been used to keep membrane processes running. Microfluidic devices have been increasingly applied to study membrane filtration processes and accommodate observation and understanding of the filtration process at different scales, from nanometer to millimeter and more. In combination with microscopes and high-speed imaging, microfluidic devices allow real time observation of filtration processes. In this review we will give a general introduction on microfluidic devices used to study membrane filtration behavior, followed by a discussion of how microfluidic devices can be used to understand current challenges. We will then discuss how increased knowledge on fundamental aspects of membrane filtration can help optimize existing processes, before wrapping up with an outlook on future prospects on the use of microfluidics within the field of membrane separation.
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Giri, Kiran, and Chia-Wen Tsao. "Recent Advances in Thermoplastic Microfluidic Bonding." Micromachines 13, no. 3 (March 20, 2022): 486. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi13030486.
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Microfluidics is a multidisciplinary technology with applications in various fields, such as biomedical, energy, chemicals and environment. Thermoplastic is one of the most prominent materials for polymer microfluidics. Properties such as good mechanical rigidity, organic solvent resistivity, acid/base resistivity, and low water absorbance make thermoplastics suitable for various microfluidic applications. However, bonding of thermoplastics has always been challenging because of a wide range of bonding methods and requirements. This review paper summarizes the current bonding processes being practiced for the fabrication of thermoplastic microfluidic devices, and provides a comparison between the different bonding strategies to assist researchers in finding appropriate bonding methods for microfluidic device assembly.
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Tsur, Elishai Ezra. "Computer-Aided Design of Microfluidic Circuits." Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering 22, no. 1 (June 4, 2020): 285–307. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-bioeng-082219-033358.
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Microfluidic devices developed over the past decade feature greater intricacy, increased performance requirements, new materials, and innovative fabrication methods. Consequentially, new algorithmic and design approaches have been developed to introduce optimization and computer-aided design to microfluidic circuits: from conceptualization to specification, synthesis, realization, and refinement. The field includes the development of new description languages, optimization methods, benchmarks, and integrated design tools. Here, recent advancements are reviewed in the computer-aided design of flow-, droplet-, and paper-based microfluidics. A case study of the design of resistive microfluidic networks is discussed in detail. The review concludes with perspectives on the future of computer-aided microfluidics design, including the introduction of cloud computing, machine learning, new ideation processes, and hybrid optimization.
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Marzban, Mostapha, Ehsan Yazdanpanah Moghadam, Javad Dargahi, and Muthukumaran Packirisamy. "Microfabrication Bonding Process Optimization for a 3D Multi-Layer PDMS Suspended Microfluidics." Applied Sciences 12, no. 9 (May 4, 2022): 4626. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app12094626.
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Microfluidic systems have received increased attention due to their wide variety of applications, from chemical sensing to biological detection to medical analysis. Microfluidics used to be fabricated by using etching techniques that required cleanroom and aggressive chemicals. However, another microfluidic fabrication technique, namely, soft lithography, is less expensive and safer compared to former techniques. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has been widely employed as a fabrication material in microfluidics by using soft lithography as it is transparent, soft, bio-compatible, and inexpensive. In this study, a 3D multi-layer PDMS suspended microfluidics fabrication process using soft lithography is presented, along with its manufacturing issues that may deteriorate or compromise the microsystem’s test results. The main issues considered here are bonding strength and trapped air-bubbles, specifically in multi-layer PDMS microfluidics. In this paper, these two issues have been considered and resolved by optimizing curing temperature and air-vent channel integration to a microfluidic platform. Finally, the suspended microfluidic system has been tested in various experiments to prove its sensitivity to different fluids and flow rates.
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Naderi, Arman, Nirveek Bhattacharjee, and Albert Folch. "Digital Manufacturing for Microfluidics." Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering 21, no. 1 (June 4, 2019): 325–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-bioeng-092618-020341.
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The microfluidics field is at a critical crossroads. The vast majority of microfluidic devices are presently manufactured using micromolding processes that work very well for a reduced set of biocompatible materials, but the time, cost, and design constraints of micromolding hinder the commercialization of many devices. As a result, the dissemination of microfluidic technology—and its impact on society—is in jeopardy. Digital manufacturing (DM) refers to a family of computer-centered processes that integrate digital three-dimensional (3D) designs, automated (additive or subtractive) fabrication, and device testing in order to increase fabrication efficiency. Importantly, DM enables the inexpensive realization of 3D designs that are impossible or very difficult to mold. The adoption of DM by microfluidic engineers has been slow, likely due to concerns over the resolution of the printers and the biocompatibility of the resins. In this article, we review and discuss the various printer types, resolution, biocompatibility issues, DM microfluidic designs, and the bright future ahead for this promising, fertile field.
9
Cha, Haotian, Hedieh Fallahi, Yuchen Dai, Dan Yuan, Hongjie An, Nam-Trung Nguyen, and Jun Zhang. "Multiphysics microfluidics for cell manipulation and separation: a review." Lab on a Chip 22, no. 3 (2022): 423–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d1lc00869b.
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We reviewed the state-of-the-art field of multiphysics microfluidics, in which multiple functional physical processes are combined in a microfluidic platform, examining the different formats of cascaded connections and physical coupling.
10
Kurniawan, Yehezkiel Steven, Arif Cahyo Imawan, Sathuluri Ramachandra Rao, Keisuke Ohto, Wataru Iwasaki, Masaya Miyazaki, and Jumina. "Microfluidics Era in Chemistry Field: A Review." Journal of the Indonesian Chemical Society 2, no. 1 (August 31, 2019): 7. http://dx.doi.org/10.34311/jics.2019.02.1.7.
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By miniaturizing the reactor dimension, microfluidic devices are attracting world attention and starting the microfluidic era, especially in the chemistry field because they offer great advantages such as rapid processes, small amount of the required reagents, low risk, ease and accurate control, portable and possibility of online monitoring. Because of that, microfluidic devices have been massively investigated and applied for the real application of human life. This review summarizes the up-to-date microfluidic research works including continuous-flow, droplet-based, open-system, paper-based and digital microfluidic devices. The brief fabrication technique of those microfluidic devices, as well as their potential application for particles separation, solvent extraction, nanoparticle fabrication, qualitative and quantitative analysis, environmental monitoring, drug delivery, biochemical assay and so on, are discussed. Recent perspectives of the microfluidics as a lab-on-chip or micro total analysis system device and organ-on-chip are also introduced.
11
BAI, BOFENG, ZHENGYUAN LUO, TIANJIAN LU, and FENG XU. "NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF CELL ADHESION AND DETACHMENT IN MICROFLUIDICS." Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology 13, no. 01 (January 10, 2013): 1350002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0219519413500024.
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Inspired by the complex biophysical processes of cell adhesion and detachment under blood flow in vivo, numerous novel microfluidic devices have been developed to manipulate, capture, and separate bio-particles for various applications, such as cell analysis and cell enumeration. However, the underlying physical mechanisms are yet unclear, which has limited the further development of microfluidic devices and point-of-care (POC) systems. Mathematical modeling is an enabling tool to study the physical mechanisms of biological processes for its relative simplicity, low cost, and high efficiency. Recent development in computation technology for multiphase flow simulation enables the theoretical study of the complex flow processes of cell adhesion and detachment in microfluidics. Various mathematical methods (e.g., front tracking method, level set method, volume of fluid (VOF) method, fluid–solid interaction method, and particulate modeling method) have been developed to investigate the effects of cell properties (i.e., cell membrane, cytoplasma, and nucleus), flow conditions, and microchannel structures on cell adhesion and detachment in microfluidic channels. In this paper, with focus on our own simulation results, we review these methods and compare their advantages and disadvantages for cell adhesion/detachment modeling. The mathematical approaches discussed here would allow us to study microfluidics for cell capture and separation, and to develop more effective POC devices for disease diagnostics.
12
Carvalho, Bruna G., Bruno T. Ceccato, Mariano Michelon, Sang W. Han, and Lucimara G. de la Torre. "Advanced Microfluidic Technologies for Lipid Nano-Microsystems from Synthesis to Biological Application." Pharmaceutics 14, no. 1 (January 7, 2022): 141. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14010141.
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Microfluidics is an emerging technology that can be employed as a powerful tool for designing lipid nano-microsized structures for biological applications. Those lipid structures can be used as carrying vehicles for a wide range of drugs and genetic materials. Microfluidic technology also allows the design of sustainable processes with less financial demand, while it can be scaled up using parallelization to increase production. From this perspective, this article reviews the recent advances in the synthesis of lipid-based nanostructures through microfluidics (liposomes, lipoplexes, lipid nanoparticles, core-shell nanoparticles, and biomimetic nanovesicles). Besides that, this review describes the recent microfluidic approaches to produce lipid micro-sized structures as giant unilamellar vesicles. New strategies are also described for the controlled release of the lipid payloads using microgels and droplet-based microfluidics. To address the importance of microfluidics for lipid-nanoparticle screening, an overview of how microfluidic systems can be used to mimic the cellular environment is also presented. Future trends and perspectives in designing novel nano and micro scales are also discussed herein.
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Vitorino, Rui, Sofia Guedes, João Pinto da Costa, and Václav Kašička. "Microfluidics for Peptidomics, Proteomics, and Cell Analysis." Nanomaterials 11, no. 5 (April 26, 2021): 1118. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11051118.
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Microfluidics is the advanced microtechnology of fluid manipulation in channels with at least one dimension in the range of 1–100 microns. Microfluidic technology offers a growing number of tools for manipulating small volumes of fluid to control chemical, biological, and physical processes relevant to separation, analysis, and detection. Currently, microfluidic devices play an important role in many biological, chemical, physical, biotechnological and engineering applications. There are numerous ways to fabricate the necessary microchannels and integrate them into microfluidic platforms. In peptidomics and proteomics, microfluidics is often used in combination with mass spectrometric (MS) analysis. This review provides an overview of using microfluidic systems for peptidomics, proteomics and cell analysis. The application of microfluidics in combination with MS detection and other novel techniques to answer clinical questions is also discussed in the context of disease diagnosis and therapy. Recent developments and applications of capillary and microchip (electro)separation methods in proteomic and peptidomic analysis are summarized. The state of the art of microchip platforms for cell sorting and single-cell analysis is also discussed. Advances in detection methods are reported, and new applications in proteomics and peptidomics, quality control of peptide and protein pharmaceuticals, analysis of proteins and peptides in biomatrices and determination of their physicochemical parameters are highlighted.
14
Chen, Yu-Shih, Chun-Hao Huang, Ping-Ching Pai, Jungmok Seo, and Kin Fong Lei. "A Review on Microfluidics-Based Impedance Biosensors." Biosensors 13, no. 1 (January 3, 2023): 83. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bios13010083.
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Electrical impedance biosensors are powerful and continuously being developed for various biological sensing applications. In this line, the sensitivity of impedance biosensors embedded with microfluidic technologies, such as sheath flow focusing, dielectrophoretic focusing, and interdigitated electrode arrays, can still be greatly improved. In particular, reagent consumption reduction and analysis time-shortening features can highly increase the analytical capabilities of such biosensors. Moreover, the reliability and efficiency of analyses are benefited by microfluidics-enabled automation. Through the use of mature microfluidic technology, complicated biological processes can be shrunk and integrated into a single microfluidic system (e.g., lab-on-a-chip or micro-total analysis systems). By incorporating electrical impedance biosensors, hand-held and bench-top microfluidic systems can be easily developed and operated by personnel without professional training. Furthermore, the impedance spectrum provides broad information regarding cell size, membrane capacitance, cytoplasmic conductivity, and cytoplasmic permittivity without the need for fluorescent labeling, magnetic modifications, or other cellular treatments. In this review article, a comprehensive summary of microfluidics-based impedance biosensors is presented. The structure of this article is based on the different substrate material categorizations. Moreover, the development trend of microfluidics-based impedance biosensors is discussed, along with difficulties and challenges that may be encountered in the future.
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Lifton, Victor A. "Microfluidics: an enabling screening technology for enhanced oil recovery (EOR)." Lab on a Chip 16, no. 10 (2016): 1777–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c6lc00318d.
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Recent applications of microfluidics and microtechnology are reviewed to show that microfluidic devices can be useful tools in investigation and visualization of such processes used in the Oil & Gas industry as enhanced oil recovery, fluid propagation, flooding, fracturing, emulsification and many others.
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Acosta-Cuevas, José M., Mario A. García-Ramírez, Gabriela Hinojosa-Ventura, Álvaro J. Martínez-Gómez, Víctor H. Pérez-Luna, and Orfil González-Reynoso. "Surface Roughness Analysis of Microchannels Featuring Microfluidic Devices Fabricated by Three Different Materials and Methods." Coatings 13, no. 10 (September 25, 2023): 1676. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/coatings13101676.
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In recent years, the utilization of microfluidic devices for precise manipulation of small flows has significantly increased. The effective management of microfluidics is closely associated with microchannel fabrication. The fabrication method employed for microfluidic devices directly impacts the roughness of the microchannels, consequently influencing the flows within them. In this study, the surface roughness of microchannels was investigated through three different fabrication processes: PDMS lithography, PLA printing, and UV resin printing. This research compared and analyzed the surface roughness of the microchannels fabricated using these methods. Furthermore, supported by a dynamic fluid simulator, the impact of surface roughness on flow behavior was shown. Results reveal varying degrees of roughness prominence in curved regions. Comparing microfluidic device fabrication techniques is crucial to optimize the process, control roughness, analyze flow rates, and select a proper material to be used in the development of microfluidic devices.
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Roy, Sanjib, Ramesh Kumar, Argha Acooli, Snehagni Roy, Abhrajit Chatterjee, Sujoy Chattaraj, Jayato Nayak, et al. "Transforming Nanomaterial Synthesis through Advanced Microfluidic Approaches: A Review on Accessing Unrestricted Possibilities." Journal of Composites Science 8, no. 10 (September 25, 2024): 386. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcs8100386.
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The inception of microfluidic devices marks a confluence of diverse scientific domains, including physics, biology, chemistry, and fluid mechanics. These multidisciplinary roots have catalyzed the evolution of microfluidic devices, which serve as versatile platforms for various chemical and biological processes. Notably, microfluidic devices have garnered attention as efficient reactors, offering distinct benefits such as minimized spatial requirements for reactions, reduced equipment costs, and accelerated residence times. These advantages, among others, have ignited a compelling interest in harnessing microfluidic technology for the conception, refinement, and production of various nanomaterials and nanocomposites, pivotal within both industrial and medicinal sectors. This comprehensive exposition delves into multifaceted aspects of nanomaterial synthesis, underscoring the transformative role of microfluidic methodologies as a departure from conventional techniques. The discourse navigates through intricate considerations surrounding the preparation of nanomaterials, elucidating how the microfluidic paradigm has emerged as a promising alternative. This paper serves as an illuminating exploration of the juncture between microfluidic innovation and nanomaterial synthesis. It traverses the transformative potential of microfluidics in revolutionizing traditional approaches, heralding a new era of precision engineering for advanced materials with applications spanning industrial to medicinal domains.
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Savitri, Goparaju. "Advancement in Generation and Application of Microfluidic Chip Technology." International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Nanotechnology(IJPSN) 17, no. 2 (March 31, 2024): 7277–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.37285/ijpsn.2024.17.2.9.
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Microfluidics is an interdisciplinary topic of research that draws inspiration from other areas such as fluid dynamics, microelectronics, materials science, and physics. Microfluidics has made it possible to create microscale channels and chambers out of a broad variety of materials by borrowing ideas from a number of different fields. This has opened up exciting possibilities for the development of platforms of any size, shape, and geometry using a variety of approaches. One of the most significant advantages of microfluidics is its versatility in applications. Microfluidic chips can be used for a variety of purposes, such as incorporating nanoparticles, encapsulating and delivering drugs, targeting cells, analyzing cells, performing diagnostic tests, and cultivating cells. This adaptability has led to the development of several device-like systems for use in a range of settings. In this study, we explore cutting-edge novel applications for microfluidic and nanofabrication technologies. We examine current developments in the area of microfluidics and highlight their potential for usage in the medical industry. We pay special attention to digital microfluidics, a recently developed and very useful technique for illness diagnosis and monitoring. The originality of microfluidics is found in the fact that it allows for the miniaturization of complex systems and processes, paving the way for the creation of cutting-edge gadgets with wide-ranging practical applications. Microfluidics has the potential to transform various fields, including medicine, biotechnology, environmental monitoring, and more. The development of novel microfluidic platforms, coupled with advancements in digital microfluidics, promises to revolutionize the way we diagnose, treat, and monitor diseases.
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Liu, Xing, and Xiaolin Zheng. "Microfluidic-Based Electrical Operation and Measurement Methods in Single-Cell Analysis." Sensors 24, no. 19 (September 30, 2024): 6359. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s24196359.
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Cellular heterogeneity plays a significant role in understanding biological processes, such as cell cycle and disease progression. Microfluidics has emerged as a versatile tool for manipulating single cells and analyzing their heterogeneity with the merits of precise fluid control, small sample consumption, easy integration, and high throughput. Specifically, integrating microfluidics with electrical techniques provides a rapid, label-free, and non-invasive way to investigate cellular heterogeneity at the single-cell level. Here, we review the recent development of microfluidic-based electrical strategies for single-cell manipulation and analysis, including dielectrophoresis- and electroporation-based single-cell manipulation, impedance- and AC electrokinetic-based methods, and electrochemical-based single-cell detection methods. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives of the microfluidic-based electrical techniques for single-cell analysis are proposed.
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Dai, Chuankai, Xiaoming Liu, Rongyu Tang, Jiping He, and Tatsuo Arai. "A Review on Microfluidic Platforms Applied to Nerve Regeneration." Applied Sciences 12, no. 7 (March 30, 2022): 3534. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app12073534.
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In recent decades, microfluidics have significantly advanced nerve regeneration research. Microfluidic devices can provide an accurate simulation of in vivo microenvironment for different research purposes such as analyzing myelin growth inhibitory factors, screening drugs, assessing nerve growth factors, and exploring mechanisms of neural injury and regeneration. The microfluidic platform offers technical supports for nerve regeneration that enable precise spatio-temporal control of cells, such as neuron isolation, single-cell manipulation, neural patterning, and axon guidance. In this paper, we review the development and recent advances of microfluidic platforms for nerve regeneration research.
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Hamad, Eyad M., Ahmed Albagdady, Samer Al-Gharabli, Hamza Alkhadire, Yousef Alnaser, Hakim Shadid, Ahmed Abdo, Andreas Dietzel, and Ala’aldeen Al-Halhouli. "Optimizing Rapid Prototype Development Through Femtosecond Laser Ablation and Finite Element Method Simulation for Enhanced Separation in Microfluidics." Journal of Nanofluids 12, no. 7 (October 1, 2023): 1868–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1166/jon.2023.2102.
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In recent years, microfluidic systems have emerged as promising tools for blood separation and analysis. However, conventional methods for prototyping microfluidic systems can be slow and expensive. In this study, we present a novel approach to rapid prototyping that combines femtosecond laser ablation and finite element method (FEM) simulation. The optimization of the prototyping process was achieved through systematic characterization of the laser ablation process and the application of FEM simulation to predict the flow behavior of the microfluidic devices. Using a dean-coupled inertial flow device (DCIFD) that comprises one channel bend and three outlets side-channels. DCIF is a phenomenon that occurs in curved microfluidic channels and is considered by the existence of inconsequential flow patterns perpendicular to the main flow direction. The DCIF can enhance the separation efficiency in microfluidic devices by inducing lateral migration of particles or cells towards specific locations along the channel. This lateral migration can be controlled by adjusting the curvature and dimensions of the channel, as well as the flow rate and properties of the fluid. Overall, DCIF can provide a valuable means of achieving efficient and high-throughput separation of particles or cells in microfluidic devices. Therefore, various microfluidics designs that contain different outlet channels were studied in this research to improve blood plasma separation efficiency. Results from imitated blood flow experiments showed positive results for fluid flow and particle separation. The study also found that incorporating three various channel widths is the key to achieving efficient plasma separation, indicating that this result could serve as a guideline for future microfluidics geometry specifications in the field of blood plasma separation. According to the FEM simulation, the highest separation percentage for both microparticle sizes was obtained by incorporating a variable outlet channel width into the same microfluidic device. The FEM simulation revealed that around 95% of the larger microparticles separated while 98% of the smaller microparticles separated. This is consistent with the imitated blood separation results, which showed that 91% of the larger microparticles separated and around 93% of the smaller microparticles were separated. Overall, our results demonstrate that the combination of femtosecond laser ablation and FEM simulation significantly improved the prototyping speed and efficiency while maintaining high blood separation performance.
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Mu, Ruojun, Nitong Bu, Jie Pang, Lin Wang, and Yue Zhang. "Recent Trends of Microfluidics in Food Science and Technology: Fabrications and Applications." Foods 11, no. 22 (November 20, 2022): 3727. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods11223727.
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The development of novel materials with microstructures is now a trend in food science and technology. These microscale materials may be applied across all steps in food manufacturing, from raw materials to the final food products, as well as in the packaging, transport, and storage processes. Microfluidics is an advanced technology for controlling fluids in a microscale channel (1~100 μm), which integrates engineering, physics, chemistry, nanotechnology, etc. This technology allows unit operations to occur in devices that are closer in size to the expected structural elements. Therefore, microfluidics is considered a promising technology to develop micro/nanostructures for delivery purposes to improve the quality and safety of foods. This review concentrates on the recent developments of microfluidic systems and their novel applications in food science and technology, including microfibers/films via microfluidic spinning technology for food packaging, droplet microfluidics for food micro-/nanoemulsifications and encapsulations, etc.
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Kotz, Frederik, Markus Mader, Nils Dellen, Patrick Risch, Andrea Kick, Dorothea Helmer, and Bastian Rapp. "Fused Deposition Modeling of Microfluidic Chips in Polymethylmethacrylate." Micromachines 11, no. 9 (September 19, 2020): 873. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi11090873.
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Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) is one of the most important thermoplastic materials and is a widely used material in microfluidics. However, PMMA is usually structured using industrial scale replication processes, such as hot embossing or injection molding, not compatible with rapid prototyping. In this work, we demonstrate that microfluidic chips made from PMMA can be 3D printed using fused deposition modeling (FDM). We demonstrate that using FDM microfluidic chips with a minimum channel cross-section of ~300 µm can be printed and a variety of different channel geometries and mixer structures are shown. The optical transparency of the chips is shown to be significantly enhanced by printing onto commercial PMMA substrates. The use of such commercial PMMA substrates also enables the integration of PMMA microstructures into the printed chips, by first generating a microstructure on the PMMA substrates, and subsequently printing the PMMA chip around the microstructure. We further demonstrate that protein patterns can be generated within previously printed microfluidic chips by employing a method of photobleaching. The FDM printing of microfluidic chips in PMMA allows the use of one of microfluidics’ most used industrial materials on the laboratory scale and thus significantly simplifies the transfer from results gained in the lab to an industrial product.
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Lundy, Terence. "Advanced Confocal Microscopy An Essential Technique for Microfluidics Development." Microscopy Today 14, no. 1 (January 2006): 8–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1551929500055127.
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Many believe that microfluidics has the potential to do for chemistry and biology what the integrated circuit has done for electronics — integrating tremendously complex chemical and biological processes into simple easy-to-use devices that will eventually pervade our lives. While microfluidics has made great progress in the last decade — addressing many of the fundamental questions related to manipulating nanoliter volumes of chemicals and solutions — it still faces some very basic challenges as it moves out of the laboratory and into use. Perhaps most basic is the need for fast, accurate characterization of the size and shape of the microfluidic devices themselves. Conventional imaging and measurement techniques have proven adequate for initial development, but are unable to provide the speed and accuracy needed to support the continued development of microfluidic technologies.
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Mea, H., and J. Wan. "Microfluidics-enabled functional 3D printing." Biomicrofluidics 16, no. 2 (March 2022): 021501. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0083673.
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Microfluidic technology has established itself as a powerful tool to enable highly precise spatiotemporal control over fluid streams for mixing, separations, biochemical reactions, and material synthesis. 3D printing technologies such as extrusion-based printing, inkjet, and stereolithography share similar length scales and fundamentals of fluid handling with microfluidics. The advanced fluidic manipulation capabilities afforded by microfluidics can thus be potentially leveraged to enhance the performance of existing 3D printing technologies or even develop new approaches to additive manufacturing. This review discusses recent developments in integrating microfluidic elements with several well-established 3D printing technologies, highlighting the trend of using microfluidic approaches to achieve functional and multimaterial 3D printing as well as to identify potential future research directions in this emergent area.
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Mumtaz, Zilwa, Zubia Rashid, Ashaq Ali, Afsheen Arif, Fuad Ameen, Mona S. AlTami, and Muhammad Zubair Yousaf. "Prospects of Microfluidic Technology in Nucleic Acid Detection Approaches." Biosensors 13, no. 6 (May 27, 2023): 584. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bios13060584.
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Conventional diagnostic techniques are based on the utilization of analyte sampling, sensing and signaling on separate platforms for detection purposes, which must be integrated to a single step procedure in point of care (POC) testing devices. Due to the expeditious nature of microfluidic platforms, the trend has been shifted toward the implementation of these systems for the detection of analytes in biochemical, clinical and food technology. Microfluidic systems molded with substances such as polymers or glass offer the specific and sensitive detection of infectious and noninfectious diseases by providing innumerable benefits, including less cost, good biological affinity, strong capillary action and simple process of fabrication. In the case of nanosensors for nucleic acid detection, some challenges need to be addressed, such as cellular lysis, isolation and amplification of nucleic acid before its detection. To avoid the utilization of laborious steps for executing these processes, advances have been deployed in this perspective for on-chip sample preparation, amplification and detection by the introduction of an emerging field of modular microfluidics that has multiple advantages over integrated microfluidics. This review emphasizes the significance of microfluidic technology for the nucleic acid detection of infectious and non-infectious diseases. The implementation of isothermal amplification in conjunction with the lateral flow assay greatly increases the binding efficiency of nanoparticles and biomolecules and improves the limit of detection and sensitivity. Most importantly, the deployment of paper-based material made of cellulose reduces the overall cost. Microfluidic technology in nucleic acid testing has been discussed by explicating its applications in different fields. Next-generation diagnostic methods can be improved by using CRISPR/Cas technology in microfluidic systems. This review concludes with the comparison and future prospects of various microfluidic systems, detection methods and plasma separation techniques used in microfluidic devices.
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Ren, Liqing, and Dongqing Li. "Theoretical Studies of Microfluidic Dispensing Processes." Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 254, no. 2 (October 2002): 384–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jcis.2002.8645.
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Tang, Xiaoqing, Qiang Huang, Tatsuo Arai, and Xiaoming Liu. "Cell pairing for biological analysis in microfluidic devices." Biomicrofluidics 16, no. 6 (December 2022): 061501. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0095828.
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Cell pairing at the single-cell level usually allows a few cells to contact or seal in a single chamber and provides high-resolution imaging. It is pivotal for biological research, including understanding basic cell functions, creating cancer treatment technologies, developing drugs, and more. Laboratory chips based on microfluidics have been widely used to trap, immobilize, and analyze cells due to their high efficiency, high throughput, and good biocompatibility properties. Cell pairing technology in microfluidic devices provides spatiotemporal research on cellular interactions and a highly controlled approach for cell heterogeneity studies. In the last few decades, many researchers have emphasized cell pairing research based on microfluidics. They designed various microfluidic device structures for different biological applications. Herein, we describe the current physical methods of microfluidic devices to trap cell pairs. We emphatically summarize the practical applications of cell pairing in microfluidic devices, including cell fusion, cell immunity, gap junction intercellular communication, cell co-culture, and other applications. Finally, we review the advances and existing challenges of the presented devices and then discuss the possible development directions to promote medical and biological research.
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Renkó, József Bálint, Attila Bonyár, and Péter János Szabó. "Development of Microfluidic Cell for Liquid Phase Layer Deposition Tracking." Acta Materialia Transylvanica 3, no. 2 (October 1, 2020): 94–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.33924/amt-2020-02-08.
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Abstract This paper shows how microfluidic tools can be used for up-to-date microstructural investigations based on thin film deposition. The construction and production methods of such measuring procedures are introduced, and their application in ellipsometric investigations is shown. By using these tools, the researchers provide the possibility to observe and document the effects of certain fine structural processes in the development of the final microstructure. This paper describes two specific application areas of such microfluidics cells. Microfluidics cells can be used together with both optical microscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry to understand previously unexplored microstructural changes.
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Erfantalab, Sobhan, Ali Hooshyar Zare, and Amin Jenabi. "Ambient Temperature Dependence of Diffusion Rate in a Microfluidic Channel." Key Engineering Materials 605 (April 2014): 127–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.605.127.
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Microfluidics offers methods of miniaturization for numerous chemical, electrochemical and biological processes. Thermal diffusion of molecular species through microfluidic channels is involved in many of such processes. High specific surface in microchannels complicates the theoretical assessment of diffusion rate in such channels as both the diffusion coefficient and the physisorption rate to the channel walls are temperature-sensitive. In this work, it is shown that both of these parameters vary in the same direction with temperature and the superposition of their respective effects makes the process rate highly temperature-sensitive. The molecular diffusion rates for three different molecular species, 2-butanol, tert-butanol and hydrogen, through a centimeter-long microchannel are experimentally monitored at the ambient temperature. Repeating such recording at different ambient temperatures facilitates the measurement and comparison of the temperature sensitivities of these processes. Among the fluids examined, those with lower diffusion coefficients showed more significant temperature dependences. The fabrication of the microfluidic system and the method utilized for monitoring the diffusion rate are also described in this paper.
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Smeraldo, Alessio, Alfonso Maria Ponsiglione, Paolo Antonio Netti, and Enza Torino. "Tuning of Hydrogel Architectures by Ionotropic Gelation in Microfluidics: Beyond Batch Processing to Multimodal Diagnostics." Biomedicines 9, no. 11 (October 27, 2021): 1551. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines9111551.
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Microfluidics is emerging as a promising tool to control physicochemical properties of nanoparticles and to accelerate clinical translation. Indeed, microfluidic-based techniques offer more advantages in nanomedicine over batch processes, allowing fine-tuning of process parameters. In particular, the use of microfluidics to produce nanoparticles has paved the way for the development of nano-scaled structures for improved detection and treatment of several diseases. Here, ionotropic gelation is implemented in a custom-designed microfluidic chip to produce different nanoarchitectures based on chitosan-hyaluronic acid polymers. The selected biomaterials provide biocompatibility, biodegradability and non-toxic properties to the formulation, making it promising for nanomedicine applications. Furthermore, results show that morphological structures can be tuned through microfluidics by controlling the flow rates. Aside from the nanostructures, the ability to encapsulate gadolinium contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging and a dye for optical imaging is demonstrated. In conclusion, the polymer nanoparticles here designed revealed the dual capability of enhancing the relaxometric properties of gadolinium by attaining Hydrodenticity and serving as a promising nanocarrier for multimodal imaging applications.
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Yip, Hon Ming, John C. S. Li, Kai Xie, Xin Cui, Agrim Prasad, Qiannan Gao, Chi Chiu Leung, and Raymond H. W. Lam. "Automated Long-Term Monitoring of Parallel Microfluidic Operations Applying a Machine Vision-Assisted Positioning Method." Scientific World Journal 2014 (2014): 1–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/608184.
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As microfluidics has been applied extensively in many cell and biochemical applications, monitoring the related processes is an important requirement. In this work, we design and fabricate a high-throughput microfluidic device which contains 32 microchambers to perform automated parallel microfluidic operations and monitoring on an automated stage of a microscope. Images are captured at multiple spots on the device during the operations for monitoring samples in microchambers in parallel; yet the device positions may vary at different time points throughout operations as the device moves back and forth on a motorized microscopic stage. Here, we report an image-based positioning strategy to realign the chamber position before every recording of microscopic image. We fabricate alignment marks at defined locations next to the chambers in the microfluidic device as reference positions. We also develop image processing algorithms to recognize the chamber positions in real-time, followed by realigning the chambers to their preset positions in the captured images. We perform experiments to validate and characterize the device functionality and the automated realignment operation. Together, this microfluidic realignment strategy can be a platform technology to achieve precise positioning of multiple chambers for general microfluidic applications requiring long-term parallel monitoring of cell and biochemical activities.
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Gelado, Sofia H., César Quilodrán-Casas, and Loïc Chagot. "Enhancing Microdroplet Image Analysis with Deep Learning." Micromachines 14, no. 10 (October 22, 2023): 1964. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi14101964.
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Microfluidics is a highly interdisciplinary field where the integration of deep-learning models has the potential to streamline processes and increase precision and reliability. This study investigates the use of deep-learning methods for the accurate detection and measurement of droplet diameters and the image restoration of low-resolution images. This study demonstrates that the Segment Anything Model (SAM) provides superior detection and reduced droplet diameter error measurement compared to the Circular Hough Transform, which is widely implemented and used in microfluidic imaging. SAM droplet detections prove to be more robust to image quality and microfluidic images with low contrast between the fluid phases. In addition, this work proves that a deep-learning super-resolution network MSRN-BAM can be trained on a dataset comprising of droplets in a flow-focusing microchannel to super-resolve images for scales ×2, ×4, ×6, ×8. Super-resolved images obtain comparable detection and segmentation results to those obtained using high-resolution images. Finally, the potential of deep learning in other computer vision tasks, such as denoising for microfluidic imaging, is shown. The results show that a DnCNN model can denoise effectively microfluidic images with additive Gaussian noise up to σ = 4. This study highlights the potential of employing deep-learning methods for the analysis of microfluidic images.
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Birendra Kumar Julee Choudhary, Sundararajan Ananiah Durai, and Nabihah Ahmad. "Smart Microfluidic Devices for Point-Of-Care Applications." Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences 114, no. 1 (February 16, 2024): 119–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.37934/arfmts.114.1.119133.
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Microfluidics is an emerging technology vital in the bio-medical sector, encompassing Lab-On-Chip (LOC), drug delivery, maladies diagnostic, and various healthcare fields. Additionally, its day-by-day research studies on drug discovery, cell sorting, and manipulation enrich bio-medical applications. This article provides an overview of the widely used microfluidic devices that are readily available for the commercial sector, improving medical diagnostics with the optimal transduction approaches for Point-Of-Care (POC) applications. On the other hand, some devices still in the development stage are discussed, along with their challenges in commercialization.
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Zhang, Yuxin, Tim Cole, Guolin Yun, Yuxing Li, Qianbin Zhao, Hongda Lu, Jiahao Zheng, Weihua Li, and Shi-Yang Tang. "Modular and Self-Contained Microfluidic Analytical Platforms Enabled by Magnetorheological Elastomer Microactuators." Micromachines 12, no. 6 (May 23, 2021): 604. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi12060604.
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Portability and low-cost analytic ability are desirable for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics; however, current POC testing platforms often require time-consuming multiple microfabrication steps and rely on bulky and costly equipment. This hinders the capability of microfluidics to prove its power outside of laboratories and narrows the range of applications. This paper details a self-contained microfluidic device, which does not require any external connection or tubing to deliver insert-and-use image-based analysis. Without any microfabrication, magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) microactuators including pumps, mixers and valves are integrated into one modular microfluidic chip based on novel manipulation principles. By inserting the chip into the driving and controlling platform, the system demonstrates sample preparation and sequential pumping processes. Furthermore, due to the straightforward fabrication process, chips can be rapidly reconfigured at a low cost, which validates the robustness and versatility of an MRE-enabled microfluidic platform as an option for developing an integrated lab-on-a-chip system.
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Vogelaar, Alicia, Samantha Marcotte, Jiaqi Cheng, Benazir Oluoch, and Jennica Zaro. "Use of Microfluidics to Prepare Lipid-Based Nanocarriers." Pharmaceutics 15, no. 4 (March 24, 2023): 1053. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15041053.
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Lipid-based nanoparticles (LBNPs) are an important tool for the delivery of a diverse set of drug cargoes, including small molecules, oligonucleotides, and proteins and peptides. Despite their development over the past several decades, this technology is still hindered by issues with the manufacturing processes leading to high polydispersity, batch-to-batch and operator-dependent variability, and limits to the production volumes. To overcome these issues, the use of microfluidic techniques in the production of LBNPs has sharply increased over the past two years. Microfluidics overcomes many of the pitfalls seen with conventional production methods, leading to reproducible LBNPs at lower costs and higher yields. In this review, the use of microfluidics in the preparation of various types of LBNPs, including liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, and solid lipid nanoparticles for the delivery of small molecules, oligonucleotides, and peptide/protein drugs is summarized. Various microfluidic parameters, as well as their effects on the physicochemical properties of LBNPs, are also discussed.
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Pereponov, Dmitrii, Alexandra Scerbacova, Vitaly Kazaku, Murad Hajiyev, Michael A. Tarkhov, Evgeny Shilov, and Alexey Cheremisin. "Application of microfluidics to optimize oil and gas field development technologies." Kazakhstan journal for oil & gas industry 1, no. 1 (April 13, 2023): 57–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.54859/kjogi108639.
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To increase the oil recovery factor (RF), enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods are applied: chemical, gas, thermal, and combined ones. Standard laboratory research methods for selecting and optimizing EOR technologies require a lot of time and resources, as well as core material, which is often in short supply. To optimize the selection of reagents and field development technologies, the use of microfluidic technology is proposed i.e. conducting experiments in reservoir conditions using microfluidic chips with a porous structure, reproducing the properties of the core of the target field. The main advantages of conducting tests in micromodels are the low duration and the ability to visualize filtration processes, which makes it possible to evaluate the behavior of fluids in reservoir conditions.
This paper considers the modern application of microfluidics for the selection of EOR agents and stimulation methods and the status of this technology in the oil and gas industry. The use of microfluidic chips for screening surfactants and polymers, as well as studying the mechanism of low-mineralized water action is described. Conducting microfluidic tests to optimize gas and thermal EOR, which became possible due to the development and improvement of technology, is considered.
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Wu, Haiwa, Jing Zhu, Yao Huang, Daming Wu, and Jingyao Sun. "Microfluidic-Based Single-Cell Study: Current Status and Future Perspective." Molecules 23, no. 9 (September 13, 2018): 2347. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules23092347.
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Investigation of cell behavior under different environments and manual operations can give information in specific cellular processes. Among all cell-based analysis, single-cell study occupies a peculiar position, while it can avoid the interaction effect within cell groups and provide more precise information. Microfluidic devices have played an increasingly important role in the field of single-cell study owing to their advantages: high efficiency, easy operation, and low cost. In this review, the applications of polymer-based microfluidics on cell manipulation, cell treatment, and cell analysis at single-cell level are detailed summarized. Moreover, three mainly types of manufacturing methods, i.e., replication, photodefining, and soft lithography methods for polymer-based microfluidics are also discussed.
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Sarbashev, K. A., M. V. Nikiforova, D. P. Shulga, M. A. Shishkina, and S. A. Tarasov. "Flow and mixing processes in a passive mixing microfluidic chip: Parameters’ estimation and colorimetric analysis." Fine Chemical Technologies 14, no. 5 (November 14, 2019): 39–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.32362/2410-6593-2019-14-5-39-50.
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Objectives. The development of microfluidic systems is one of the promising areas of science and technology. In most procedures performed using microfluidic systems, effective mixing in microfluidic channels of microreactors (chips) is of particular importance, because it has an effect on the sensitivity and speed of analytical procedures. The aim of this study is to describe and evaluate the major parameters of the flow and mixing processes in a passive microfluidic micromixer, and to develop an information-measuring system to monitor the dynamics of flow (mixing) of liquids.Methods. This article provides an overview of the concept of microfluidic mixing chips (micromixers) and their classification, and analyzes the kinds of points of mixing and microfluidic channels for mixing. The article presents the description and calculations of the hydrodynamic similarity criteria (Reynolds, Dean and Peclet numbers), which are the critical parameters for creating and optimizing micromixers (for example, straight and curved channels in the flow rate range between 100 and 1000 µl/min). We have developed an information-measuring system to monitor the dynamics of flow (mixing) of liquids in a microfluidic channel, which consists of a microscope with a digital eyepiece (LOMO MIB, Russia), an Atlas syringe pump (Syrris Ltd., UK) and a passive mixing microfluidic chip of interest (made of clear glass). This system was designed to quickly illustrate the principles of mixing in microfluidic channels of different configurations.Results. The developed system has allowed carrying out a colorimetric analysis of the modes and dynamics of mixing two liquids (5% aqueous solution of azorubine dye and water) at the T-shaped mixing point, at the straight and curved (double-bend shaped) sections of the microfluidic channel of the passive-type micromixer with flow rates varying from 100 to 400 µl/min.Conclusions. According to the obtained calculations, the share of the advective mixing processes (formation of vortex flows and increase in the contact area of the mixed substances) in flowing liquids is significantly higher in curved microchannels. The developed information-measuring system to monitor the dynamics of flow (mixing) of liquids in a microfluidic channel is a convenient tool for optimizing the mixing modes in the channels of micromixers, and for designing new configurations of channels in microchips. It would allow intensifying processes and increasing the performance of microfluidic systems.
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Gao, Run Ze, Vivian Ngoc Tram Mai, Nicholas Levinski, Jacqueline Mary Kormylo, Robin Ward Murdock, Clark R. Dickerson, and Carolyn L. Ren. "A novel air microfluidics-enabled soft robotic sleeve: Toward realizing innovative lymphedema treatment." Biomicrofluidics 16, no. 3 (May 2022): 034101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0079898.
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A proof of concept of a novel air microfluidics-enabled soft robotic sleeve to enable lymphedema treatment is presented. Compression sleeves represent the current, suboptimal standard of care, and stationary pumps assist with lymph drainage; however, effective systems that are truly wearable while performing daily activities are very scarce. This problematic trade-off between performance and wearability requires a new solution, which is addressed by an innovative microfluidic device. Its novelty lies in the use of light, small, and inexpensive air microfluidic chips (35 × 20 × 5 mm3 in size) that bring three major advantages compared to their traditional counterparts. First, each chip is designed with 16 fluidic channels with a cross-sectional area varying from 0.04 to 1 mm2, providing sequential inflation and uniform deflation capability to eight air bladders, thereby producing intentional gradient compression to the arm to facilitate lymph fluid circulation. The design is derived from the fundamentals of microfluidics, in particular, hydraulic resistance and paths of least resistance. Second, the air microfluidic chip enables miniaturization of at least eight bulky energy-consuming valves to two miniature solenoid valves for control increasing wearability. Third, the air microfluidic chip has no moving parts, which reduces the noise and energy needed. The cost, simplicity, and scale-up potential of developing methods for making the system are also detailed. The sequential inflation, uniform deflation, and pressure gradient are demonstrated, and the resulted compression and internal air bladder pressure were evaluated. This air microfluidics-enabled sleeve presents tremendous potential toward future improvements in self-care lymphedema management.
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Garcia-Camprubi, Maria, Cristina Bengoechea-Cuadrado, and Salvador Izquierdo. "Virtual Sensor Development for Continuous Microfluidic Processes." IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics 16, no. 12 (December 2020): 7774–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/tii.2020.2972111.
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Martin-Mayor, Alain, M. Mounir Bou-Ali, Maialen Aginagalde, and Pedro Urteaga. "Microfluidic separation processes using the thermodiffusion effect." International Journal of Thermal Sciences 124 (February 2018): 279–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2017.10.024.
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Liu, Yichen, Yongli Li, Andreas Hensel, Juergen J. Brandner, Kai Zhang, Xiaoze Du, and Yongping Yang. "A review on emulsification via microfluidic processes." Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering 14, no. 3 (February 27, 2020): 350–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11705-019-1894-0.
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Caruso, Giuseppe, Nicolò Musso, Margherita Grasso, Angelita Costantino, Giuseppe Lazzarino, Fabio Tascedda, Massimo Gulisano, Susan M. Lunte, and Filippo Caraci. "Microfluidics as a Novel Tool for Biological and Toxicological Assays in Drug Discovery Processes: Focus on Microchip Electrophoresis." Micromachines 11, no. 6 (June 15, 2020): 593. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi11060593.
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The last decades of biological, toxicological, and pharmacological research have deeply changed the way researchers select the most appropriate ‘pre-clinical model’. The absence of relevant animal models for many human diseases, as well as the inaccurate prognosis coming from ‘conventional’ pre-clinical models, are among the major reasons of the failures observed in clinical trials. This evidence has pushed several research groups to move more often from a classic cellular or animal modeling approach to an alternative and broader vision that includes the involvement of microfluidic-based technologies. The use of microfluidic devices offers several benefits including fast analysis times, high sensitivity and reproducibility, the ability to quantitate multiple chemical species, and the simulation of cellular response mimicking the closest human in vivo milieu. Therefore, they represent a useful way to study drug–organ interactions and related safety and toxicity, and to model organ development and various pathologies ‘in a dish’. The present review will address the applicability of microfluidic-based technologies in different systems (2D and 3D). We will focus our attention on applications of microchip electrophoresis (ME) to biological and toxicological studies as well as in drug discovery and development processes. These include high-throughput single-cell gene expression profiling, simultaneous determination of antioxidants and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, DNA analysis, and sensitive determination of neurotransmitters in biological fluids. We will discuss new data obtained by ME coupled to laser-induced fluorescence (ME-LIF) and electrochemical detection (ME-EC) regarding the production and degradation of nitric oxide, a fundamental signaling molecule regulating virtually every critical cellular function. Finally, the integration of microfluidics with recent innovative technologies—such as organoids, organ-on-chip, and 3D printing—for the design of new in vitro experimental devices will be presented with a specific attention to drug development applications. This ‘composite’ review highlights the potential impact of 2D and 3D microfluidic systems as a fast, inexpensive, and highly sensitive tool for high-throughput drug screening and preclinical toxicological studies.
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Delgado, P., O. Oshinowo, M. E. Fay, C. A. Luna, A. Dissanayaka, P. Dorbala, A. Ravindran, L. Shen, and D. R. Myers. "Universal pre-mixing dry-film stickers capable of retrofitting existing microfluidics." Biomicrofluidics 17, no. 1 (January 2023): 014104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0122771.
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Integrating microfluidic mixers into lab-on-a-chip devices remains challenging yet important for numerous applications including dilutions, extractions, addition of reagents or drugs, and particle synthesis. High-efficiency mixers utilize large or intricate geometries that are difficult to manufacture and co-implement with lab-on-a-chip processes, leading to cumbersome two-chip solutions. We present a universal dry-film microfluidic mixing sticker that can retrofit pre-existing microfluidics and maintain high mixing performance over a range of Reynolds numbers and input mixing ratios. To attach our pre-mixing sticker module, remove the backing material and press the sticker onto an existing microfluidic/substrate. Our innovation centers around the multilayer use of laser-cut commercially available silicone-adhesive-coated polymer sheets as microfluidic layers to create geometrically complex, easy to assemble designs that can be adhered to a variety of surfaces, namely, existing microfluidic devices. Our approach enabled us to assemble the traditional yet difficult to manufacture “F-mixer” in minutes and conceptually extend this design to create a novel space-saving spiral F-mixer. Computational fluid dynamic simulations and experimental results confirmed that both designs maintained high performance for 0.1 < Re < 10 and disparate input mixing ratios of 1:10. We tested the integration of our system by using the pre-mixer to fluorescently tag proteins encapsulated in an existing microfluidic. When integrated with another microfluidic, our pre-mixing sticker successfully combined primary and secondary antibodies to fluorescently tag micropatterned proteins with high spatial uniformity, unlike a traditional pre-mixing “T-mixer” sticker. Given the ease of this technology, we anticipate numerous applications for point-of-care devices, microphysiological-systems-on-a-chip, and microfluidic-based biomedical research.
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Shi, Jingyu, Yu Zhang, and Mo Yang. "Recent development of microfluidics-based platforms for respiratory virus detection." Biomicrofluidics 17, no. 2 (March 2023): 024104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0135778.
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With the global outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, the inadequacies of current detection technology for respiratory viruses have been recognized. Rapid, portable, accurate, and sensitive assays are needed to expedite diagnosis and early intervention. Conventional methods for detection of respiratory viruses include cell culture-based assays, serological tests, nucleic acid detection (e.g., RT-PCR), and direct immunoassays. However, these traditional methods are often time-consuming, labor-intensive, and require laboratory facilities, which cannot meet the testing needs, especially during pandemics of respiratory diseases, such as COVID-19. Microfluidics-based techniques can overcome these demerits and provide simple, rapid, accurate, and cost-effective analysis of intact virus, viral antigen/antibody, and viral nucleic acids. This review aims to summarize the recent development of microfluidics-based techniques for detection of respiratory viruses. Recent advances in different types of microfluidic devices for respiratory virus diagnostics are highlighted, including paper-based microfluidics, continuous-flow microfluidics, and droplet-based microfluidics. Finally, the future development of microfluidic technologies for respiratory virus diagnostics is discussed.
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Zhang, Ge, Negar Nazari, and Anthony R. Kovscek. "In Situ pH Measurement in Microfluidic Porous Media Indicated by Surfaces Functionalized with Polyaniline (PAni)." Colloids and Interfaces 8, no. 1 (January 16, 2024): 9. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/colloids8010009.
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Aqueous phase pH is a critical metric with significant importance in understanding reactive transport processes in porous media. At the microscale, however, traditional pH detection methods face challenges in capturing dynamic pH due to limited sample volume and sensing time. To overcome these limitations, we leveraged micro/nanofabrication techniques to create a microfluidic porous medium coated with polyaniline (PAni) on its surface. Using this innovative microfluidic design, we achieved colorimetric delineation of pH spatial distribution with fast response and robustness in porous media. By conducting coinjection tests with hydrochloric acid (pH = 2) and DI water (pH ≈ 5.8, equilibrated with air) at various flow rates and relative flow rate ratios in a sandstone-patterned microfluidic device, we observed dynamic pH changes in porous media and obtained a comprehensive understanding of the acid advection-diffusion dynamics. The results highlighted the capability of PAni to enable microscale pH sensing. This research contributes to the development of advanced porous media microfluidics and applications, particularly in mass transfer limits during reactive transport of carbon dioxide sequestration and geological hydrogen storage.
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Abrishamkar, Afshin, Azadeh Nilghaz, Maryam Saadatmand, Mohammadreza Naeimirad, and Andrew J. deMello. "Microfluidic-assisted fiber production: Potentials, limitations, and prospects." Biomicrofluidics 16, no. 6 (December 2022): 061504. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0129108.
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Besides the conventional fiber production methods, microfluidics has emerged as a promising approach for the engineered spinning of fibrous materials and offers excellent potential for fiber manufacturing in a controlled and straightforward manner. This method facilitates low-speed prototype synthesis of fibers for diverse applications while providing superior control over reaction conditions, efficient use of precursor solutions, reagent mixing, and process parameters. This article reviews recent advances in microfluidic technology for the fabrication of fibrous materials with different morphologies and a variety of properties aimed at various applications. First, the basic principles, as well as the latest developments and achievements of microfluidic-based techniques for fiber production, are introduced. Specifically, microfluidic platforms made of glass, polymers, and/or metals, including but not limited to microfluidic chips, capillary-based devices, and three-dimensional printed devices are summarized. Then, fiber production from various materials, such as alginate, gelatin, silk, collagen, and chitosan, using different microfluidic platforms with a broad range of cross-linking agents and mechanisms is described. Therefore, microfluidic spun fibers with diverse diameters ranging from submicrometer scales to hundreds of micrometers and structures, such as cylindrical, hollow, grooved, flat, core–shell, heterogeneous, helical, and peapod-like morphologies, with tunable sizes and mechanical properties are discussed in detail. Subsequently, the practical applications of microfluidic spun fibers are highlighted in sensors for biomedical or optical purposes, scaffolds for culture or encapsulation of cells in tissue engineering, and drug delivery. Finally, different limitations and challenges of the current microfluidic technologies, as well as the future perspectives and concluding remarks, are presented.
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Midkiff, Daniel, and Adriana San-Miguel. "Microfluidic Technologies for High Throughput Screening Through Sorting and On-Chip Culture of C. elegans." Molecules 24, no. 23 (November 25, 2019): 4292. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules24234292.
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The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful model organism that has been widely used to study molecular biology, cell development, neurobiology, and aging. Despite their use for the past several decades, the conventional techniques for growth, imaging, and behavioral analysis of C. elegans can be cumbersome, and acquiring large data sets in a high-throughput manner can be challenging. Developments in microfluidic “lab-on-a-chip” technologies have improved studies of C. elegans by increasing experimental control and throughput. Microfluidic features such as on-chip control layers, immobilization channels, and chamber arrays have been incorporated to develop increasingly complex platforms that make experimental techniques more powerful. Genetic and chemical screens are performed on C. elegans to determine gene function and phenotypic outcomes of perturbations, to test the effect that chemicals have on health and behavior, and to find drug candidates. In this review, we will discuss microfluidic technologies that have been used to increase the throughput of genetic and chemical screens in C. elegans. We will discuss screens for neurobiology, aging, development, behavior, and many other biological processes. We will also discuss robotic technologies that assist in microfluidic screens, as well as alternate platforms that perform functions similar to microfluidics.
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Vladisaljević, Goran T. "Droplet Microfluidics for High-Throughput Screening and Directed Evolution of Biomolecules." Micromachines 15, no. 8 (July 29, 2024): 971. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi15080971.
Full textAbstract:
Directed evolution is a powerful technique for creating biomolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids with tailor-made properties for therapeutic and industrial applications by mimicking the natural evolution processes in the laboratory. Droplet microfluidics improved classical directed evolution by enabling time-consuming and laborious steps in this iterative process to be performed within monodispersed droplets in a highly controlled and automated manner. Droplet microfluidic chips can generate, manipulate, and sort individual droplets at kilohertz rates in a user-defined microchannel geometry, allowing new strategies for high-throughput screening and evolution of biomolecules. In this review, we discuss directed evolution studies in which droplet-based microfluidic systems were used to screen and improve the functional properties of biomolecules. We provide a systematic overview of basic on-chip fluidic operations, including reagent mixing by merging continuous fluid streams and droplet pairs, reagent addition by picoinjection, droplet generation, droplet incubation in delay lines, chambers and hydrodynamic traps, and droplet sorting techniques. Various microfluidic strategies for directed evolution using single and multiple emulsions and biomimetic materials (giant lipid vesicles, microgels, and microcapsules) are highlighted. Completely cell-free microfluidic-assisted in vitro compartmentalization methods that eliminate the need to clone DNA into cells after each round of mutagenesis are also presented.