Recent Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip and Their 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: closed (30 October 2024) | Viewed by 8201

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Interests: microfluidics/nanofluidics; lab on a chip; nanotoxicology; numercial simulations
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Guest Editor
Institute for Health Innovation & Technology (iHealthtech), National University of Singapore, Singapore 117599, Singapore
Interests: organ on a chip; drug screening; cell mechanobiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleague,

This Special Issue, "Recent Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip and Their Biomedical Applications", serves as a platform to showcase the latest breakthroughs and innovations in the field of lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology and its diverse applications in biomedicine. Lab-on-a-chip platforms have revolutionized medical diagnostics, drug discovery, and biomedical research by providing miniaturized, integrated systems that offer high precision and efficiency.

This Special Issue seeks to gather research papers and review articles focusing on the current state of LOC technology, from the development of microfluidic devices to their biomedical applications. It welcomes contributions from researchers and experts across various disciplines who are exploring the integration of LOC systems into medical diagnostics, point-of-care testing, and drug development. It also encompasses a wide range of topics, including microfabrication techniques, bioanalytical methods, biomarker detection, single-cell analysis, and the miniaturization of laboratory processes, and highlights the translation of LOC technologies into clinical practice and their role in improving patient care and outcomes.

By fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange among scientists, engineers, and healthcare professionals, this Special Issue aims to accelerate the adoption of lab-on-a-chip platforms in biomedicine. We invite submissions that reflect the latest advancements and innovative applications contributing to the ongoing transformation of healthcare and the advancement of biomedical research.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Prof. Dr. Guoqing Hu
Dr. Xiaoyan Liu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • lab on a chip
  • organ on a chip
  • microfluidics
  • biomedical applications
  • drug screening
  • high-throughput analysis
  • point-of-care diagnostics
  • lab-on-a-chip devices
  • microfluidic separation
  • disease diagnosis
  • biochips
  • micrototal analysis systems (μTASs)

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2859 KiB  
Article
A Microfluidic-Based Cell-Stretching Culture Device That Allows for Easy Preparation of Slides for Observation with High-Magnification Objective Lenses
by Momoko Kato and Kae Sato
Micromachines 2025, 16(1), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16010093 - 15 Jan 2025
Viewed by 554
Abstract
Microfluidic-based cell-stretching devices are vital for studying the molecular pathways involved in cellular responses to mechanobiological processes. Accurate evaluation of these responses requires detailed observation of cells cultured in this cell-stretching device. This study aimed to develop a method for preparing microscope slides [...] Read more.
Microfluidic-based cell-stretching devices are vital for studying the molecular pathways involved in cellular responses to mechanobiological processes. Accurate evaluation of these responses requires detailed observation of cells cultured in this cell-stretching device. This study aimed to develop a method for preparing microscope slides to enable high-magnification imaging of cells in these devices. The key innovation is creating a peelable bond between the cell culture membrane and the upper channel, allowing for easy removal of the upper layer and precise cutting of the membrane for high-magnification microscopy. Using the fabricated device, OP9 cells (15,000 cells/channel) were stretched, and the effects of focal adhesion proteins and the intracellular distribution of YAP1 were examined under a fluorescence microscope with 100× and 60× objectives. Stretch stimulation increased integrinβ1 expression and promoted integrin–vinculin complex formation by approximately 1.4-fold in OP9 cells. Furthermore, YAP1 nuclear localization was significantly enhanced (approximately 1.3-fold) during stretching. This method offers a valuable tool for researchers using microfluidic-based cell-stretching devices. The advancement of imaging techniques in microdevice research is expected to further drive progress in mechanobiology research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip and Their Biomedical Applications)
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15 pages, 3936 KiB  
Article
EchoTilt: An Acoustofluidic Method for the Capture and Enrichment of Nanoplastics Directed Toward Drinking Water Monitoring
by Martim Costa, Liselotte van der Geer, Miguel Joaquim, B. Hammarström, S. Tanriverdi, H. N. Joensson, M. Wiklund and A. Russom
Micromachines 2024, 15(12), 1487; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15121487 - 11 Dec 2024
Viewed by 778
Abstract
Micro- and nanoplastics have become increasingly relevant as contaminants to be monitored due to their potential health effects and environmental impact. Nanoplastics, in particular, have been shown to be difficult to detect in drinking water, requiring new capture technologies. In this work, we [...] Read more.
Micro- and nanoplastics have become increasingly relevant as contaminants to be monitored due to their potential health effects and environmental impact. Nanoplastics, in particular, have been shown to be difficult to detect in drinking water, requiring new capture technologies. In this work, we applied the acoustofluidic seed particle method to capture nanoplastics in an optimized, tilted grid of silica clusters even at the high flow rate of 5 mL/min. Moreover, we achieved, using this technique, the enrichment of nanoparticles ranging from 500 nm to 25 nm as a first in the field. We employed fluorescence to observe the enrichment profiles according to size, using a washing buffer flow at 0.5 mL/min, highlighting the size-dependent nature of the silica seed particle release of various sizes of nanoparticles. These results highlight the versatility of acoustic trapping for a wide range of nanoplastic particles and allow further study into the complex dynamics of the seed particle method at these size ranges. Moreover, with reproducible size-dependent washing curves, we provide a new window into the rate of nanoplastic escape in high-capacity acoustic traps, relevant to both environmental and biomedical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip and Their Biomedical Applications)
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18 pages, 2284 KiB  
Communication
Intestinal Cells-on-Chip for Permeability Studies
by Marit Keuper-Navis, Hossein Eslami Amirabadi, Joanne Donkers, Markus Walles, Birk Poller, Bo Heming, Lisanne Pieters, Bjorn de Wagenaar, Adam Myszczyszyn, Theo Sinnige, Bart Spee, Rosalinde Masereeuw and Evita van de Steeg
Micromachines 2024, 15(12), 1464; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15121464 - 30 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1309
Abstract
Background: To accurately measure permeability of compounds in the intestine, there is a need for preclinical in vitro models that accurately represent the specificity, integrity and complexity of the human small intestinal barrier. Intestine-on-chip systems hold considerable promise as testing platforms, but several [...] Read more.
Background: To accurately measure permeability of compounds in the intestine, there is a need for preclinical in vitro models that accurately represent the specificity, integrity and complexity of the human small intestinal barrier. Intestine-on-chip systems hold considerable promise as testing platforms, but several characteristics still require optimization and further development. Methods: An established intestine-on-chip model for tissue explants was adopted for intestinal cell monolayer culture. A 3D-printed culture disc was designed to allow cell culture in static conditions and subsequent permeability studies in a dynamic environment. Membrane characteristics and standardized read-outs were investigated and compared to traditional permeability studies under static conditions. Results: By starting cultures outside the chip in conventional wells plates, the new cell disc design could support accurate cell monolayer formation for both Caco-2 and human enteroids. When transferred to the chip with laminar flow, there was accurate detection of barrier integrity (FD4 and Cascade Blue) and permeability (atenolol/antipyrine). Both flow and membrane characteristics had a significant impact on permeability outcomes. Conclusions: This novel intestinal cell-on-chip system offers large flexibility for intestinal permeability studies, although it still requires validation with more compounds to reveal its full potential. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip and Their Biomedical Applications)
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16 pages, 4542 KiB  
Article
Miniaturized Pathogen Detection System Using Magnetic Nanoparticles and Microfluidics Technology
by Benjamin Garlan, Amine Rabehi, Kieu Ngo, Sophie Neveu, Reza Askari Moghadam and Hamid Kokabi
Micromachines 2024, 15(10), 1272; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15101272 - 20 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1240
Abstract
Rapid detection of a biological agent is essential to anticipate a threat to the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems. Our goal is to miniaturize a magnetic pathogen detection system in order to fabricate an efficient and portable system. The detection device is based [...] Read more.
Rapid detection of a biological agent is essential to anticipate a threat to the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems. Our goal is to miniaturize a magnetic pathogen detection system in order to fabricate an efficient and portable system. The detection device is based on flat, multilayer coils associated with microfluidic structures to detect magnetic nanoparticles linked to pathogen agents. One type of immunological diagnosis is based on the measurement of the magnetic sensitivity of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), which are markers connected to pathogens. This method of analysis involves the coupling of antibodies or antigen proteins with MNPs. Among the available magnetic techniques, the frequency mixing method has a definite advantage by making it possible to quantify MNPs. An external magnetic field composed of a low- and a high-frequency field is applied to the sample reservoir. Then, the response signal is measured and analyzed. In this paper, magnetic microcoils are implemented on a multilayer Printed Circuit Board (PCB), and a microfluidics microstructure is designed in connection with the planar coils. Simulation software, COMSOL version 5.3, provides an analytical perspective to choose the number of turns in magnetic coils and to understand the effects of changing the shape and dimensions of the microfluidics microstructure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip and Their Biomedical Applications)
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27 pages, 21312 KiB  
Article
YOLO-PBESW: A Lightweight Deep Learning Model for the Efficient Identification of Indomethacin Crystal Morphologies in Microfluidic Droplets
by Jiehan Wei, Jianye Liang, Jun Song and Peipei Zhou
Micromachines 2024, 15(9), 1136; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15091136 - 6 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1024
Abstract
Crystallization is important to the pharmaceutical, the chemical, and the materials fields, where the morphology of crystals is one of the key factors affecting the quality of crystallization. High-throughput screening based on microfluidic droplets is a potent technique to accelerate the discovery and [...] Read more.
Crystallization is important to the pharmaceutical, the chemical, and the materials fields, where the morphology of crystals is one of the key factors affecting the quality of crystallization. High-throughput screening based on microfluidic droplets is a potent technique to accelerate the discovery and development of new crystal morphologies with active pharmaceutical ingredients. However, massive crystal morphologies’ datum needs to be identified completely and accurately, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Therefore, effective morphologies’ detection and small-target tracking are essential for high-efficiency experiments. In this paper, a new improved algorithm YOLOv8 (YOLO-PBESW) for detecting indomethacin crystals with different morphologies is proposed. We enhanced its capability in detecting small targets through the integration of a high-resolution feature layer P2, and the adoption of a BiFPN structure. Additionally, in this paper, adding the EMA mechanism before the P2 detection head was implemented to improve network attention towards global features. Furthermore, we utilized SimSPPF to replace SPPF to mitigate computational costs and reduce inference time. Lastly, the CIoU loss function was substituted with WIoUv3 to improve detection performance. The experimental findings indicate that the enhanced YOLOv8 model attained advancements, achieving AP metrics of 93.3%, 77.6%, 80.2%, and 99.5% for crystal wire, crystal rod, crystal sheet, and jelly-like phases, respectively. The model also achieved a precision of 85.2%, a recall of 83.8%, and an F1 score of 84.5%, with a mAP of 87.6%. In terms of computational efficiency, the model’s dimensions and operational efficiency are reported as 5.46 MB, and it took 12.89 ms to process each image with a speed of 77.52 FPS. Compared with state-of-the-art lightweight small object detection models such as the FFCA-YOLO series, our proposed YOLO-PBESW model achieved improvements in detecting indomethacin crystal morphologies, particularly for crystal sheets and crystal rods. The model demonstrated AP values that exceeded L-FFCA-YOLO by 7.4% for crystal sheets and 3.9% for crystal rods, while also delivering a superior F1-score. Furthermore, YOLO-PBESW maintained a lower computational complexity, with parameters of only 11.8 GFLOPs and 2.65 M, and achieved a higher FPS. These outcomes collectively demonstrate that our method achieved a balance between precision and computational speed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip and Their Biomedical Applications)
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12 pages, 10693 KiB  
Article
Capillary Force-Driven Quantitative Plasma Separation Method for Application of Whole Blood Detection Microfluidic Chip
by Xiaohua Fang, Cuimin Sun, Peng Dai, Zhaokun Xian, Wenyun Su, Chaowen Zheng, Dong Xing, Xiaotian Xu and Hui You
Micromachines 2024, 15(5), 619; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15050619 - 1 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1847
Abstract
Separating plasma or serum from blood is essential for precise testing. However, extracting precise plasma quantities outside the laboratory poses challenges. A recent study has introduced a capillary force-driven membrane filtration technique to accurately separate small plasma volumes. This method efficiently isolates 100–200 [...] Read more.
Separating plasma or serum from blood is essential for precise testing. However, extracting precise plasma quantities outside the laboratory poses challenges. A recent study has introduced a capillary force-driven membrane filtration technique to accurately separate small plasma volumes. This method efficiently isolates 100–200 μL of pure human whole blood with a 48% hematocrit, resulting in 5–30 μL of plasma with less than a 10% margin of error. The entire process is completed within 20 min, offering a simple and cost-effective approach to blood separation. This study has successfully addressed the bottleneck in self-service POCT, ensuring testing accuracy. This innovative method shows promise for clinical diagnostics and point-of-care testing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip and Their Biomedical Applications)
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