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Microdevices and Sensors Based on Polymeric Materials for Human Health Applications

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 August 2024 | Viewed by 6702

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) - Center for Sensors & Devices - Laboratory of Biomarker Studies and Structure Analysis for Health & CNR – Institute of Biophysics, Trent, Italy
Interests: lab-on-a-chip; biosensors; surface functionalization; biomaterials; biophysical and biomolecular technologies

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) - Center for Sensors & Devices - Laboratory of Biomarker Studies and Structure Analysis for Health & CNR – Institute of Biophysics, Trent, Italy
Interests: scanning probe microscopy; molecular interactions; surface functionalization; biosensors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymeric microfluidic devices and sensors are increasingly emerging as valid and powerful tools for many applications in biomedical, agri-food and environmental fields. Human health greatly benefits from these devices and sensors, as they improve sensitivity and ease of use, lower costs and allow the spread of laboratories in real settings. This Special Issue welcomes the submission of both review and original research articles related to polymeric microdevices and sensors with applications for human health. The Special Issue is open to contributions with topics considering nanostructured materials, biofunctional materials and surfaces, sensors for human health analysis and monitoring, microdevices for food safety and smart polymeric materials and microfluidic devices. Original contributions that look at integrated microdevices and biosensors are also welcome.

Dr. Cristina Potrich
Dr. Lorenzo Lunelli
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. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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

  • biomedical microdevices
  • biofunctional materials and surfaces
  • sensors for human health
  • clinical diagnostics
  • on-chip food analysis
  • lab-on-a-chip
  • point-of-care devices
  • polymeric microdevices

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3957 KiB  
Article
Human Blood Platelets Adsorption on Polymeric Materials for Liquid Biopsy
by Cristina Potrich, Francesca Frascella, Valentina Bertana, Mario Barozzi, Lia Vanzetti, Federico Piccoli, Attilio Fabio Cristallo, Natalia Malara, Candido Fabrizio Pirri, Cecilia Pederzolli and Lorenzo Lunelli
Sensors 2022, 22(13), 4788; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22134788 - 24 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1490
Abstract
Platelets are emerging as a promising source of blood biomarkers for several pathologies, including cancer. New automated techniques for easier manipulation of platelets in the context of lab-on-a-chips could be of great support for liquid biopsy. Here, several polymeric materials were investigated for [...] Read more.
Platelets are emerging as a promising source of blood biomarkers for several pathologies, including cancer. New automated techniques for easier manipulation of platelets in the context of lab-on-a-chips could be of great support for liquid biopsy. Here, several polymeric materials were investigated for their behavior in terms of adhesion and activation of human platelets. Polymeric materials were selected among the most used in microfabrication (PDMS, PMMA and COC) and commercial and home-made resins for 3D printing technology with the aim to identify the most suitable for the realization of microdevices for human platelets isolation and analysis. To visualize adherent platelets and their activation state scanning, electron microscopy was used, while confocal microscopy was used for evaluating platelets’ features. In addition, atomic force microscopy was employed to further study platelets adherent to the polymeric materials. Polymers were divided in two main groups: the most prone to platelet adhesion and materials that cause few or no platelets to adhere. Therefore, different polymeric materials could be identified as suitable for the realization of microdevices aimed at capturing human platelets, while other materials could be employed for the fabrication of microdevices or parts of microdevices for the processing of platelets, without loss on surfaces during the process. Full article
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15 pages, 3173 KiB  
Article
Design of a Portable Microfluidic Platform for EGOT-Based in Liquid Biosensing
by Matteo Segantini, Matteo Parmeggiani, Alberto Ballesio, Gianluca Palmara, Francesca Frascella, Simone Luigi Marasso and Matteo Cocuzza
Sensors 2022, 22(3), 969; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22030969 - 26 Jan 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2704
Abstract
In biosensing applications, the exploitation of organic transistors gated via a liquid electrolyte has increased in the last years thanks to their enormous advantages in terms of sensitivity, low cost and power consumption. However, a practical aspect limiting the use of these devices [...] Read more.
In biosensing applications, the exploitation of organic transistors gated via a liquid electrolyte has increased in the last years thanks to their enormous advantages in terms of sensitivity, low cost and power consumption. However, a practical aspect limiting the use of these devices in real applications is the contamination of the organic material, which represents an obstacle for the realization of a portable sensing platform based on electrolyte-gated organic transistors (EGOTs). In this work, a novel contamination-free microfluidic platform allowing differential measurements is presented and validated through finite element modeling simulations. The proposed design allows the exposure of the sensing electrode without contaminating the EGOT device during the whole sensing tests protocol. Furthermore, the platform is exploited to perform the detection of bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a validation test for the introduced differential protocol, demonstrating the capability to detect BSA at 1 pM concentration. The lack of contamination and the differential measurements provided in this work can be the first steps towards the realization of a reliable EGOT-based portable sensing instrument. Full article
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14 pages, 4486 KiB  
Article
On-Chip Purification of Tetracyclines Based on Copper Ions Interaction
by Lorenzo Lunelli, Martina Germanis, Lia Vanzetti, Roberta Tatti, Cristina Potrich and Cecilia Pederzolli
Sensors 2021, 21(21), 7236; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21217236 - 30 Oct 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1460
Abstract
Antibiotics are widely used to both prevent and treat bacterial diseases as well as promote animal growth. This massive use leads to the presence of residual antibiotics in food with severe consequences for human health. Limitations and regulations on the tolerated amount of [...] Read more.
Antibiotics are widely used to both prevent and treat bacterial diseases as well as promote animal growth. This massive use leads to the presence of residual antibiotics in food with severe consequences for human health. Limitations and regulations on the tolerated amount of antibiotics in food have been introduced and analytical methods have been developed. The bioanalytical methods usually employed to detect antibiotic residues, however, are time-consuming, expensive and laboratory-based. Novel methods with improved rapidity, portability and cost that are easy-to-use and sustainable are therefore highly desirable. In the attempt to fulfill this need, a microfluidic system was set up herein for the purification and pre-concentration of tetracyclines from raw milk selected as the case-study. The system includes a polymeric microfluidic chip containing magnetic beads loaded with copper to exploit the preferential interaction of tetracycline with divalent ions. The microfluidic system was demonstrated to efficiently pre-concentrate tetracycline, oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline with similar performances and efficiently purify tetracycline from raw milk without any pre-treatment. The simplified method described in this paper could be easily integrated in a compact and portable device for the in-field detection of tetracyclines, with the economic advantage of preventing food wastes and guaranteeing food safety. Full article
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