Development of Point-of-Care Diagnostic Tools and New Bioassays

A special issue of Biosensors (ISSN 2079-6374). This special issue belongs to the section "Biosensors and Healthcare".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2024) | Viewed by 8060

Special Issue Editors

School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Interests: micro-nano sensor chip; micro-system; POCT testing; imaging microscopy system; microscopic image detection technology
State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI, Institute of Microelectronics, University of Macau, Macau, China
Interests: digital microfluidics; DNA identification; drug screening; precision medicine
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microfluidic technology has become a very important biological and chemical analysis tool because of its advantages, such as low cost of samples and reagents, in situ real-time analysis, etc.; thus, microfluidics has been applied in many studies at the molecular and cellular levels. For cell research, because the dimension of the microchannel is greatly compatible with the magnitude (size) of the cells and can perfectly simulate the real in vivo environment of cells in vitro, it has become a new platform for the real-time detection and research of cells and single cells.

This Special Issue aims to collect the latest technological progress in microfluidic technology in the field of cell detection and research. We particularly encourage research in the following areas: (1) cancer cell capture and recognition; (2) cancer cell drug screening; (3) cell viability detection; (4) cell vitality evaluation; (5) optical and electrochemical cell detection; (6) electrical-impedance-based cell detection; (6) hematology analysis (red blood cells, platelets, white blood cells, clotting, etc.); and (7) rapid detection of sperm viability.

We welcome the submission of original research articles, reviews, mini-reviews and methods papers related to the following fields, but other relevant submissions are also welcome:

1) Optical-based cell detection technology;

2) Cell detection technology based on electrical impedance;

3) Study on cell sensors based on electrochemistry;

4) Capture and recognition of circulating tumor cells;

5) Cell vitality and viability assessment;

6) Cancer cell drug screening;

7) Platelet function test;

8) Bleeding and coagulation tests;

9) Sperm viability detection.

Dr. Ning Yang
Dr. Yanwei Jia
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • microfluidic
  • cell detection
  • cell vitality
  • cell viability
  • drug screening
  • cell sensor
  • blood analysis

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2643 KiB  
Article
Highly Sensitive Molecular Diagnostic Platform for Scrub Typhus Diagnosis Using O. tsutsugamushi Enrichment and Nucleic Acid Extraction
by Myoung Gyu Kim, Seulki Kim, Juho Jang, Jinkwan Lee, Namheon Kim, Yeji Yu, A Reum Kim, Seungjin Lim, Moonsuk Bae and Yong Shin
Biosensors 2024, 14(10), 493; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios14100493 - 10 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1065
Abstract
Scrub typhus is caused by the Gram-negative obligate intracellular bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi, and this tick-borne disease is difficult to distinguish from other acute febrile illnesses as it typically presents with symptoms such as rash, crusting at the bite site, headache, myalgia, lymphadenopathy, [...] Read more.
Scrub typhus is caused by the Gram-negative obligate intracellular bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi, and this tick-borne disease is difficult to distinguish from other acute febrile illnesses as it typically presents with symptoms such as rash, crusting at the bite site, headache, myalgia, lymphadenopathy, and elevated liver transaminases. It can often be diagnosed clinically, but not all patients present with characteristic symptoms, so serological diagnosis and molecular techniques may be required. However, existing diagnostic tests often have low sensitivity and specificity, making early detection difficult. This study presents a nucleic acid extraction method using large volumes of plasma and buffy coat to increase sensitivity, as well as an improved detection method using two target genes. Using the I-PULL device, nucleic acids can be extracted from up to 4 mL of sample in 30 min, avoiding contamination. The extracted DNA detects two genes of O. tsutsugamushi, increasing sensitivity compared to single-gene detection. Clinical validation in 38 patient samples showed 100% specificity and 95.24% sensitivity for the single target gene, with specificity and sensitivity rising to 100% when both genes are analyzed. This molecular diagnostic platform can be useful for distinguishing scrub typhus from similar diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Point-of-Care Diagnostic Tools and New Bioassays)
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13 pages, 2844 KiB  
Article
A Hand-Held Platform for Boar Sperm Viability Diagnosis Based on Smartphone
by Yunhong Zheng, Hang Yin, Chengxian Zhou, Wei Zhou, Zhijie Huan and Weicheng Ma
Biosensors 2023, 13(11), 978; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13110978 - 8 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1715
Abstract
The swine fever virus seriously affects pork production, and to improve pork production, pig breeding efficiency needs to be improved, and the detection of boar sperm activity is an important part of the pig breeding process. Traditional laboratory testing methods rely on bulky [...] Read more.
The swine fever virus seriously affects pork production, and to improve pork production, pig breeding efficiency needs to be improved, and the detection of boar sperm activity is an important part of the pig breeding process. Traditional laboratory testing methods rely on bulky testing equipment, such as phase-contrast microscopes, high-speed cameras, and computers, which limit the testing scenarios. To solve the above problems, in this paper, a microfluidic chip was designed to simulate sperm in the oviduct with a channel thickness of 20 um, which can only accommodate sperm for two-dimensional movement. A miniature microscope system which can be used in combination with a smartphone is designed that is only the size of the palm of the hand and has a magnification of about 38 times. An intelligent diagnostic app was developed using Java language, which can automatically identify and track boar sperm with a recognition rate of 96.08% and an average tracking rate of 86%. The results show that the proposed smartphone-based hand-held platform can effectively replace the traditional microscope compound computer to diagnose sperm activity. In contrast, the platform is smaller, easier to use and is not limited by the usage scenarios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Point-of-Care Diagnostic Tools and New Bioassays)
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11 pages, 2099 KiB  
Article
pH Regulator on Digital Microfluidics with Pico-Dosing Technique
by Haoran Li, Tao Peng, Yunlong Zhong, Meiqing Liu, Pui-In Mak, Rui P. Martins, Ping Wang and Yanwei Jia
Biosensors 2023, 13(11), 951; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13110951 - 25 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1699
Abstract
Real-time pH control on-chip is a crucial factor for cell-based experiments in microfluidics, yet difficult to realize. In this paper, we present a flexible pH regulator on a digital microfluidic (DMF) platform. The pico-dosing technology, which can generate and transfer satellite droplets, is [...] Read more.
Real-time pH control on-chip is a crucial factor for cell-based experiments in microfluidics, yet difficult to realize. In this paper, we present a flexible pH regulator on a digital microfluidic (DMF) platform. The pico-dosing technology, which can generate and transfer satellite droplets, is presented to deliver alkali/acid into the sample solution to change the pH value of the sample. An image analysis method based on ImageJ is developed to calculate the delivered volume and an on-chip colorimetric method is proposed to determine the pH value of the sample solution containing the acid-base indicator. The calculated pH values show consistency with the measured ones. Our approach makes the real-time pH control of the on-chip biological experiment more easy to control and flexible. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Point-of-Care Diagnostic Tools and New Bioassays)
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17 pages, 4807 KiB  
Article
Detection of Rice Fungal Spores Based on Micro- Hyperspectral and Microfluidic Techniques
by Xiaodong Zhang, Houjian Song, Yafei Wang, Lian Hu, Pei Wang and Hanping Mao
Biosensors 2023, 13(2), 278; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13020278 - 15 Feb 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2766
Abstract
As rice is one of the world’s most important food crops, protecting it from fungal diseases is very important for agricultural production. At present, it is difficult to diagnose rice fungal diseases at an early stage using relevant technologies, and there are a [...] Read more.
As rice is one of the world’s most important food crops, protecting it from fungal diseases is very important for agricultural production. At present, it is difficult to diagnose rice fungal diseases at an early stage using relevant technologies, and there are a lack of rapid detection methods. This study proposes a microfluidic chip-based method combined with microscopic hyperspectral detection of rice fungal disease spores. First, a microfluidic chip with a dual inlet and three-stage structure was designed to separate and enrich Magnaporthe grisea spores and Ustilaginoidea virens spores in air. Then, the microscopic hyperspectral instrument was used to collect the hyperspectral data of the fungal disease spores in the enrichment area, and the competitive adaptive reweighting algorithm (CARS) was used to screen the characteristic bands of the spectral data collected from the spores of the two fungal diseases. Finally, the support vector machine (SVM) and convolutional neural network (CNN) were used to build the full-band classification model and the CARS filtered characteristic wavelength classification model, respectively. The results showed that the actual enrichment efficiency of the microfluidic chip designed in this study on Magnaporthe grisea spores and Ustilaginoidea virens spores was 82.67% and 80.70%, respectively. In the established model, the CARS-CNN classification model is the best for the classification of Magnaporthe grisea spores and Ustilaginoidea virens spores, and its F1-core index can reach 0.960 and 0.949, respectively. This study can effectively isolate and enrich Magnaporthe grisea spores and Ustilaginoidea virens spores, providing new methods and ideas for early detection of rice fungal disease spores. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Point-of-Care Diagnostic Tools and New Bioassays)
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