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Sensors and Actuators for Lab-on-Chip Applications

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Biosensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 358

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Interests: lab-on-chip; organ-on-chip; microfluidics; optoelectrionic tweezers; sensors; machine learning

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Lab-on-chip (LOC) technology has revolutionized point-of-care diagnostics, drug development, and environmental monitoring. The ever-increasing progress in micro-nanotechnology and materials science has fueled the development of sophisticated miniaturized systems enabling rapid, precise, and cost-effective analyses. However, establishing these microenvironments necessitates precise local regulation of the variables influencing the phenomena under study. Consequently, integrating sensing and actuating elements into microfluidic devices enables real-time monitoring and accurate control of physical, chemical, or biochemical parameters with high accuracy, selectivity, and rapid responsiveness. In this context, artificial intelligence (AI) can play a crucial role in enhancing the functionality of the sensors and actuators within microfluidic devices, enabling the enhancement of adaptive responses, the detection of complex patterns, and the increase in data interpretation (“intelligent sensing”).

This special issue explores the latest novel developments in sensors and actuoators integration within lab-on-chip (LOC) devices, highlighting breakthroughs in microfluidics, fabrication techniques, materials, and data processing. This issue will feature cutting-edge research on chemical and physical sensors, biosensors, actuators  AI-driven sensors, and multimodal sensing approaches for a broad range of applications, e.g., healthcare and point-of-care diagnostics, drug development and screening, environmental monitoring, wearable and implantable devices, etc.

Dr. Joanna Filippi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • lab-on-chip devices
  • actuators
  • integrated sensors
  • microfluidics
  • materials for sensing
  • biosensors
  • intelligent sensing
  • point-of-care diagnostics
  • real-time monitoring

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

30 pages, 6686 KB  
Article
Interplay of the Mass Transport and Reaction Kinetics for Lateral Flow Immunoassay Integrated on Lab-on-Disc
by Snehan Peshin, Anthony Gavin, Nakajima Rie, Aarti Jain, Philip Felgner, Marc J. Madou and Lawrence Kulinsky
Sensors 2025, 25(20), 6271; https://doi.org/10.3390/s25206271 - 10 Oct 2025
Viewed by 157
Abstract
Lateral Flow Assays (LFAs) are ubiquitous test platforms due to their affordability and simplicity but are often limited by low sensitivity and lack of flow control. The present work demonstrates the combination of LFAs with centrifugal microfluidic platforms that allows for enhancement of [...] Read more.
Lateral Flow Assays (LFAs) are ubiquitous test platforms due to their affordability and simplicity but are often limited by low sensitivity and lack of flow control. The present work demonstrates the combination of LFAs with centrifugal microfluidic platforms that allows for enhancement of LFAs’ sensitivity via the increase in the dwell time of the analyte at the test line as well as by passing a larger sample volume through the LFA strip. The rate of advancement of the liquid front in the radially positioned NC strip is retarded by the centrifugal force generated on spinning disc; therefore, the dwell time of the liquid front above the test line of LFA is increased. Additionally, integrating a waste reservoir enables passive replenishment of additional sample volume increases total probed volume by approximately 20% (from 50 μL to 60 μL). Comprehensive analysis, including COMSOL multiphysics simulation, was performed to deduce the importance of parameters such as channel height (100–300 μm), disc spin rate (0–2000 rpm), and reaction kinetics (fast vs. slow binding kinetics). The analysis was validated by the experimental observation of the slower-reacting CD79b protein on the test strip. For slower-reacting targets like CD79b, fluorescence intensity increased by ~40% compared to the static LFA. A new merit number, TRc (Transport Reaction Constant), is introduced, which refines the traditional Damköhler number (Da) by including the thickness of the liquid layer (such as the height of the microchannel), which affects the final sensitivity of the assays and is designed to reflect the role channel height plays for surface-based assays (in contrast to the bulk assays). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors and Actuators for Lab-on-Chip Applications)
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