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Micromachines
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Advances in Microfluidic Chips for Chemical and Biomedical Applications
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Advances in Microfluidic Chips for Chemical and Biomedical Applications

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "B：Biology and Biomedicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 August 2025 | Viewed by 3537

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rongxin Fu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Medical Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: biomedical optics; biophotonics; optical biosensing; microfluidics; optical manipulation; biomedical instrumentation
Prof. Dr. Guoqing Hu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Interests: microfluidics/nanofluidics; lab on a chip; nanotoxicology; numercial simulations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microfluidics is a transformative technology that enables the precise handling and manipulation of fluids at the microscale. This field has evolved significantly, offering unparalleled advantages in terms of scalability, efficiency, and automation for a wide range of chemical and biomedical applications. Microfluidic systems can perform tasks such as mixing, sorting, trapping, and analyzing fluids with exceptional accuracy and minimal sample volumes. These capabilities have made microfluidics indispensable in diagnostics, drug development, and advanced analytical techniques.

This Special Issue seeks original research articles and reviews that highlight novel advancements in microfluidic methodologies, device design, and innovative applications. We welcome contributions focusing on high-throughput systems, lab-on-a-chip technologies, and the integration of microfluidics with emerging analytical methods for chemical and biomedical sciences.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and showcasing cutting-edge work in this dynamic field.

Dr. Rongxin Fu
Prof. Dr. Guoqing Hu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microfluidics
  • lab-on-a-chip
  • optofluidics
  • acoustofluidic
  • dielectrophoresis
  • micro manipulation

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 2011 KiB  
Article
High-Efficiency Drug Loading in Lipid Vesicles by MEMS-Driven Gigahertz Acoustic Streaming
by Bingxuan Li, Haopu Wang, Zhen Wang, Huikai Xie and Yao Lu
Micromachines 2025, 16(5), 562; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16050562 - 7 May 2025
Viewed by 221
Abstract
Drug carriers hold significant promise for precision medicine but face persistent challenges in balancing high encapsulation efficiency with structural preservation during active loading. In this study, we present a microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-driven platform that can generate gigahertz (GHz)-frequency acoustic streaming (1.55 GHz) to [...] Read more.
Drug carriers hold significant promise for precision medicine but face persistent challenges in balancing high encapsulation efficiency with structural preservation during active loading. In this study, we present a microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-driven platform that can generate gigahertz (GHz)-frequency acoustic streaming (1.55 GHz) to enable nondestructive, power-tunable drug encapsulation in lipid vesicles. Utilizing DSPE-PEG-modified bilayers with hydrodynamic shear forces, our method achieves transient membrane permeability that preserves membrane integrity while permitting controlled doxorubicin (DOX) influx. We developed the GHz acoustic MEMS platform and applied it to systematically investigate two drug loading strategies: (1) loading DOX into giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs, >10 μm in diameter) prior to extrusion into small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs, 100 nm) versus (2) direct acoustic loading into pre-formed SUVs. The GUV-first approach demonstrated better performance, achieving 60.04% ± 1.55% encapsulation efficiency (EE%) at 250 mW acoustic power—a 5.93% enhancement over direct SUV loading (54.11% ± 0.72%). Structural analysis via TEM confirmed intact SUV morphology post-loading, while power-dependent EE% analysis showed a linear trend. This work bridges gaps in nanocarrier engineering by optimizing drug loading strategies, aiming to offer a potential drug carrier platform for drug delivery in biomedical treatment in future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Microfluidic Chips for Chemical and Biomedical Applications)
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13 pages, 2736 KiB  
Article
Multistage Cyclic Dielectrophoresis for High-Resolution Sorting of Submicron Particles
by Wenshen Luo, Chaowen Zheng, Cuimin Sun, Zekun Li and Hui You
Micromachines 2025, 16(4), 404; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16040404 - 29 Mar 2025
Viewed by 274
Abstract
The precise preparation and application of nanomicrospheres is currently an emerging research hotspot in the cutting-edge cross-disciplines. As an important functional material, nanosized microspheres show a broad application prospect in biomedicine, chemical engineering, materials science, and other fields. However, microspheres with good monodispersity [...] Read more.
The precise preparation and application of nanomicrospheres is currently an emerging research hotspot in the cutting-edge cross-disciplines. As an important functional material, nanosized microspheres show a broad application prospect in biomedicine, chemical engineering, materials science, and other fields. However, microspheres with good monodispersity are still facing technical bottlenecks, such as complicated preparation process and high cost. In this study, a multistage cyclic dielectrophoresis (MC-DEP) technique is innovatively proposed to successfully realize the high-resolution sorting of submicron microspheres. A dielectrophoresis chip adopts a unique electrode design, in which the electrodes are arranged at the top and bottom of the microchannel at the same time. This symmetric electrode structure effectively eliminates the difference in the distribution of dielectrophoretic force in the perpendicular direction and ensures the homogeneity of the initial state of particle sorting. Three pairs of focusing electrodes are in the front section of the microchannel for preaggregation of the microspheres, and the deflection electrodes in the back section are to realize particle size sorting. After this, the upper and lower limits of particle size are limited by multiple cycles of sorting. The multistage cyclic sorting increases the stability of particle deflection under dielectrophoretic forces and reduces the error perturbation caused by the fluid environment. The experimental results show that the multistage cycling sorting scheme significantly improves the monodispersity of the microspheres, and the coefficient of variation of the particle size is significantly reduced from the initial 12.3% to 5.4% after three cycles of sorting, which fully verifies the superior performance of this technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Microfluidic Chips for Chemical and Biomedical Applications)
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14 pages, 4727 KiB  
Article
Dielectrophoresis-Enhanced Microfluidic Device with Membrane Filter for Efficient Microparticle Concentration and Optical Detection
by Young-Ho Nam, Seung-Ki Lee and Jae-Hyoung Park
Micromachines 2025, 16(2), 158; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16020158 - 29 Jan 2025
Viewed by 733
Abstract
This paper presents a novel microfluidic device that integrates dielectrophoresis (DEP) forces with a membrane filter to concentrate and trap microparticles in a narrow region for enhanced optical analysis. The device combines the broad particle capture capability of a membrane filter with the [...] Read more.
This paper presents a novel microfluidic device that integrates dielectrophoresis (DEP) forces with a membrane filter to concentrate and trap microparticles in a narrow region for enhanced optical analysis. The device combines the broad particle capture capability of a membrane filter with the precision of DEP to focus particles in regions optimized for optical measurements. The device features transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) top electrodes on a glass substrate and gold (Au) bottom electrodes patterned on a small area of the membrane filter, with spacers to control the gaps between the electrodes. This configuration enables precise particle concentration at a specific location and facilitates real-time optical detection. Experiments using 0.8 μm fluorescent polystyrene (PS) beads and Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria demonstrated effective particle trapping and concentration, with fluorescence intensity increasing proportionally to particle concentration. The application of DEP forces in a small region of the membrane filter resulted in a significant enhancement of fluorescence intensity, showcasing the effectiveness of the DEP-enhanced design for improving particle concentration and optical measurement sensitivity. The device also showed promising potential for bacterial detection, particularly with E. coli, by achieving a linear increase in fluorescence intensity with increasing bacterial concentration. These results highlight the device’s potential for precise and efficient microparticle concentration and detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Microfluidic Chips for Chemical and Biomedical Applications)
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Review

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21 pages, 3013 KiB  
Review
Lab-on-a-Chip Devices for Nucleic Acid Analysis in Food Safety
by Inae Lee and Hae-Yeong Kim
Micromachines 2024, 15(12), 1524; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15121524 - 21 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1861
Abstract
Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices have been developed for nucleic acid analysis by integrating complex laboratory functions onto a miniaturized chip, enabling rapid, cost-effective, and highly sensitive on-site testing. This review examines the application of LOC technology in food safety, specifically in the context of [...] Read more.
Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices have been developed for nucleic acid analysis by integrating complex laboratory functions onto a miniaturized chip, enabling rapid, cost-effective, and highly sensitive on-site testing. This review examines the application of LOC technology in food safety, specifically in the context of nucleic acid-based analyses for detecting pathogens and contaminants. We focus on microfluidic-based LOC devices that optimize nucleic acid extraction and purification on the chip or amplification and detection processes based on isothermal amplification and polymerase chain reaction. We also explore advancements in integrated LOC devices that combine nucleic acid extraction, amplification, and detection processes within a single chip to minimize sample preparation time and enhance testing accuracy. The review concludes with insights into future trends, particularly the development of portable LOC technologies for rapid and efficient nucleic acid testing in food safety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Microfluidic Chips for Chemical and Biomedical Applications)
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