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Micromachines, Volume 8, Issue 6

2017 June - 31 articles

Cover Story: One of the major tasks of microfluidic technology is the automated handling of a small amount of fluid. Microfluidic platforms for liquid handling are categorised as continuous-flow and digital systems. The two main and opposing applications of continuous-flow liquid handling are mixing and separation, which often rely on the same physical phenomenon. Handling of discrete micro droplets offers a higher degree of control over their content. Recent advances in the emerging field of liquid-marble-based digital microfluidics have led to interesting biological and biomedical applications.
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Articles (31)

  • Article
  • Open Access
20 Citations
6,399 Views
18 Pages

On the Application of Replica Molding Technology for the Indirect Measurement of Surface and Geometry of Micromilled Components

  • Federico Baruffi,
  • Paolo Parenti,
  • Francesco Cacciatore,
  • Massimiliano Annoni and
  • Guido Tosello

21 June 2017

The evaluation of micromilled parts quality requires detailed assessments of both geometry and surface topography. However, in many cases, the reduced accessibility caused by the complex geometry of the part makes it impossible to perform direct meas...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano Manufacturing)
  • Article
  • Open Access
95 Citations
27,765 Views
14 Pages

21 June 2017

Beyond printing text on paper, inkjet printing methods have recently been applied to print passive electrical and optical microparts, such as conductors, resistors, solder bumps and polymeric micro lenses. They are also useful to print micro-electro-...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioprinting and 3D Printing in MEMS Technology)
  • Article
  • Open Access
19 Citations
6,680 Views
14 Pages

21 June 2017

A simple technique is presented to fabricate stable and reproducible plasmonic substrates using chicken eggshell as bio-templates, an otherwise everyday waste material. The 3-dimensional (3D) submicron features on the outer shell (OS), inner shell (I...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS/NEMS for Biomedical Imaging and Sensing)
  • Opinion
  • Open Access
17 Citations
6,733 Views
13 Pages

20 June 2017

Developments in High Throughput Screening aim at maximizing the number of samples per time and reducing the cost per sample, e.g., by applying very small sample volumes. The ultimate technological step in miniaturization is moving from microtiter pla...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Droplet Microfluidics: Techniques and Technologies, Volume II)
  • Article
  • Open Access
31 Citations
5,660 Views
12 Pages

19 June 2017

Molecular dynamics simulation is applied to study the electroosmotic flow in rough nanochannels, with particular attention given to the fluid–solid interactions. In the simulation, the surface roughness is characterized by a fractal Cantor. The roles...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics, Volume II)
  • Article
  • Open Access
20 Citations
7,435 Views
11 Pages

Three-Dimensional Calcium Alginate Hydrogel Assembly via TiOPc-Based Light-Induced Controllable Electrodeposition

  • Yang Liu,
  • Cong Wu,
  • Hok Sum Sam Lai,
  • Yan Ting Liu,
  • Wen Jung Li and
  • Ya Jing Shen

19 June 2017

Artificial reconstruction of three-dimensional (3D) hydrogel microstructures would greatly contribute to tissue assembly in vitro, and has been widely applied in tissue engineering and drug screening. Recent technological advances in the assembly of...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microdevices and Microsystems for Cell Manipulation)
  • Article
  • Open Access
7 Citations
5,435 Views
14 Pages

19 June 2017

When strong earthquake occurs, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) measurement errors increase significantly. Combined strategies of GNSS/accelerometer data can estimate better precision in displacement, but are of no help to carrier phase mea...

  • Article
  • Open Access
46 Citations
7,248 Views
19 Pages

18 June 2017

Considering coil inductance and the spatial distribution of the magnetic field, this paper developed an approximate distributed-parameter model of a hybrid energy harvester (HEH). The analytical solutions were compared with numerical solutions. The e...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric MEMS)
  • Article
  • Open Access
46 Citations
11,114 Views
10 Pages

17 June 2017

In micro-milling, cutting forces generate non-negligible tool deflection, which has a significant influence on the machining process and on workpiece accuracy. This paper investigates the tool deflection during micro-milling and its effect on cutting...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-Of-The-Art Micromachining)
  • Article
  • Open Access
53 Citations
11,090 Views
20 Pages

3D Finite Element Simulation of Micro End-Milling by Considering the Effect of Tool Run-Out

  • Ali Davoudinejad,
  • Guido Tosello,
  • Paolo Parenti and
  • Massimiliano Annoni

16 June 2017

Understanding the micro milling phenomena involved in the process is critical and difficult through physical experiments. This study presents a 3D finite element modeling (3D FEM) approach for the micro end-milling process on Al6082-T6. The proposed...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano Manufacturing)
  • Review
  • Open Access
171 Citations
20,643 Views
20 Pages

Recent Advances and Future Perspectives on Microfluidic Liquid Handling

  • Nam-Trung Nguyen,
  • Majid Hejazian,
  • Chin Hong Ooi and
  • Navid Kashaninejad

12 June 2017

The interdisciplinary research field of microfluidics has the potential to revolutionize current technologies that require the handling of a small amount of fluid, a fast response, low costs and automation. Microfluidic platforms that handle small am...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insights and Advancements in Microfluidics)
  • Editorial
  • Open Access
3,957 Views
2 Pages

Microfluidics is a technology that is expanding rapidly in many areas of research, especially in the biological areas of cell handling and analysis.[...]

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Microfluidic Devices for Cell Handling and Analysis)
  • Article
  • Open Access
28 Citations
7,851 Views
13 Pages

Lithium Niobate Micromachining for the Fabrication of Microfluidic Droplet Generators

  • Giacomo Bettella,
  • Gianluca Pozza,
  • Sebastian Kroesen,
  • Riccardo Zamboni,
  • Enrico Baggio,
  • Carlo Montevecchi,
  • Annamaria Zaltron,
  • Ludovic Gauthier-Manuel,
  • Giampaolo Mistura and
  • Cinzia Sada
  • + 3 authors

In this paper, we present the first microfluidic junctions for droplet generation directly engraved on lithium niobate crystals by micromachining techniques, preparatory to a fully integrated opto-microfluidics lab-on-chip system. In particular, lase...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrafast Laser Fabrication for Lab-on-a-Chip)
  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
7,959 Views
11 Pages

Chiral Orientation of Skeletal Muscle Cells Requires Rigid Substrate

  • Ninghao Zhu,
  • Hoi Kwan Kwong,
  • Yuanye Bao and
  • Ting-Hsuan Chen

Reconstitution of tissue morphology with inherent left–right (LR) asymmetry is essential for tissue/organ functions. For skeletal muscle, the largest tissue in mammalian organisms, successful myogenesis requires the regulation of the LR asymmetry to...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optofluidics 2016)
  • Article
  • Open Access
23 Citations
7,780 Views
16 Pages

There have been recent developments in grippers that are based on capillary force and condensed water droplets. These are used for manipulating micro-sized objects. Recently, one-finger grippers have been produced that are able to reliably grip using...

  • Article
  • Open Access
18 Citations
6,456 Views
13 Pages

“Z”-Shaped Rotational Au/Pt Micro-Nanorobot

  • Kai Chen,
  • Chenyi Gu,
  • Zhan Yang,
  • Masahiro Nakajima,
  • Tao Chen and
  • Toshio Fukuda

Drug delivery, minimally-invasive surgery, and a hospital-in-the-body are highly desirable for meeting the rapidly growing needs of nanorobot. This paper reports a Z-shaped gold/platinum (Au/Pt) hybrid nanorobot which realizes the self-rotational mov...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano Robotics, Volume II)
  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
6,462 Views
11 Pages

Non-instrumented nucleic acid amplification tests (NINAAT) are a novel paradigm in portable molecular diagnostics. They offer the high detection accuracy characteristic of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) in a self-contained device, without th...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Microfluidic Methodology for the Analysis of DNA)
  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
8,053 Views
13 Pages

Fabrication of Functional Plastic Parts Using Nanostructured Steel Mold Inserts

  • Nicolas Blondiaux,
  • Raphaël Pugin,
  • Gaëlle Andreatta,
  • Lionel Tenchine,
  • Stéphane Dessors,
  • Pierre-François Chauvy,
  • Matthieu Diserens and
  • Philippe Vuillermoz

We report on the fabrication of sub-micro and nanostructured steel mold inserts for the replication of nanostructured immunoassay biochips. Planar and microstructured stainless steel inserts were textured at the sub-micron and nanoscale by combining...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano Manufacturing)
  • Article
  • Open Access
15 Citations
9,854 Views
11 Pages

In the integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing, in-situ end-point detection (EPD) is an important issue in the chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process. In the paper, we chose the motor power signal of the polishing platen as the monitoring obje...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microtribology, Adhesion and Surface Engineering)
  • Correction
  • Open Access
1 Citations
3,860 Views
1 Page
  • Article
  • Open Access
9 Citations
7,705 Views
9 Pages

Hollow Hydrogel Microfiber Encapsulating Microorganisms for Mass-Cultivation in Open Systems

  • Kazuhiko Higashi,
  • Miho Ogawa,
  • Kazuma Fujimoto,
  • Hiroaki Onoe and
  • Norihisa Miki

Open cultivation systems to monoculture microorganisms are promising for the commercialization of low-value commodities because they reduce the cultivation cost. However, contamination from biological pollutants frequently impedes the process. Here w...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomedical Microfluidic Devices)
  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
8,290 Views
13 Pages

This study proposed a rapid prototyping fabrication method for micromotors that allowed us to develop both 1 mm and 1.5 mm diameter permanent-magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) with an optical rotary encoder. First, an integrated electroforming method...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-Of-The-Art Micromachining)
  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
5,793 Views
8 Pages

Artificial photosynthesis is the imitation of natural photosynthesis, which promises an efficient way to use solar energy to synthesize organic matters, in which the key step is the coenzyme regeneration (NADH/NADPH). To achieve an efficient regenera...

  • Article
  • Open Access
15 Citations
7,026 Views
11 Pages

Dynamical Modeling and Analysis of Viscoelastic Properties of Single Cells

  • Bo Wang,
  • Wenxue Wang,
  • Yuechao Wang,
  • Bin Liu and
  • Lianqing Liu

A single cell can be regarded as a complex network that contains thousands of overlapping signaling pathways. The traditional methods for describing the dynamics of this network are extremely complicated. The mechanical properties of a cell reflect t...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microdevices and Microsystems for Cell Manipulation)
  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
6,782 Views
12 Pages

Automatic and Selective Single Cell Manipulation in a Pressure-Driven Microfluidic Lab-On-Chip Device

  • Yigang Shen,
  • Zhenyu Song,
  • Yimo Yan,
  • Yongxin Song,
  • Xinxiang Pan and
  • Qi Wang

A microfluidic lab-on-chip device was developed to automatically and selectively manipulate target cells at the single cell level. The device is composed of a microfluidic chip, mini solenoid valves with negative-pressurized soft tubes, and a LabView...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from 2016 International Conference of Microfluidics, Nanofluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip)
  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
7,438 Views
12 Pages

Separated Type Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Microjets Array for Maskless Microscale Etching

  • Yichuan Dai,
  • Man Zhang,
  • Qiang Li,
  • Li Wen,
  • Hai Wang and
  • Jiaru Chu

Maskless etching approaches such as microdischarges and atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs) have been studied recently. Nonetheless, a simple, long lifetime, and efficient maskless etching method is still a challenge. In this work, a separated t...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microplasma Devices)
  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
8,011 Views
12 Pages

In this study, slurry availability and the extent of the slurry mixing (i.e., among fresh slurry, spent slurry, and residual rinse-water) were varied via three different injection schemes. An ultraviolet enhanced fluorescence technique was employed t...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano Manufacturing)
  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
5,762 Views
11 Pages

Handling in the Production of Wire-Based Linked Micro Parts

  • Philipp Wilhelmi,
  • Christian Schenck and
  • Bernd Kuhfuss

For simplified processing and the enhancement of output rate in multi-stage production, micro parts are handled as linked parts. This contribution discusses handling specific challenges in production based on an exemplary process chain. The examined...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano Manufacturing)
  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
8,417 Views
12 Pages

Investigation of Drug Cocktail Effects on Cancer Cell-Spheroids Using a Microfluidic Drug-Screening Assay

  • Ka I. Au Ieong,
  • Chengpeng Yang,
  • Chin To Wong,
  • Angelie C. Shui,
  • Tom T. Y. Wu,
  • Ting-Hsuan Chen and
  • Raymond H. W. Lam

Development of drugs based on potential anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agents has been hindered by its necessary tedious procedures and failure in the clinical trials because of unbearable toxicity and extremely low clinical efficacy. One of the techni...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidic Technologies for Drug Delivery)
  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
25 Citations
9,202 Views
10 Pages

Large-Scale Fabrication of Porous Gold Nanowires via Laser Interference Lithography and Dealloying of Gold–Silver Nano-Alloys

  • Adrien Chauvin,
  • Nicolas Stephant,
  • Ke Du,
  • Junjun Ding,
  • Ishan Wathuthanthri,
  • Chang-Hwan Choi,
  • Pierre-Yves Tessier and
  • Abdel-Aziz El Mel

In this work, we report on an efficient approach to fabricating large-area and uniform planar arrays of highly ordered nanoporous gold nanowires. The approach consists in dealloying Au–Ag alloy nanowires in concentrated nitric acid. The Au–Ag alloy n...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Scalable Micro/Nano Patterning)
  • Review
  • Open Access
16 Citations
7,600 Views
21 Pages

Microtechnologies for Cell Microenvironment Control and Monitoring

  • Enrique Azuaje-Hualde,
  • Maite García-Hernando,
  • Jaione Etxebarria-Elezgarai,
  • Marian M. De Pancorbo,
  • Fernando Benito-Lopez and
  • Lourdes Basabe-Desmonts

A great breadth of questions remains in cellular biology. Some questions cannot be answered using traditional analytical techniques and so demand the development of new tools for research. In the near future, the development of highly integrated micr...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Microfluidic Devices for Cell Handling and Analysis)
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Micromachines - ISSN 2072-666X