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Recent Trends and Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 9059

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institute of Biophysics, Biological Research Centre of Hungarian Research Network, Temesvári krt. 62, 6726 Szeged, Hungary
Interests: microfluidics; integrated optics; all optical biosensors; photolythography; optical waveguide
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Lab-on-a-Chip Devices are standing about the doorsills of our homes, ready to get really wide-spread. In one of their ancestors, microelectronic chips, several different electronic units are made on the same plate. To produce them microlythography with microsesists (photopolymers) was needed. Not much time later, photopolymer structures were also used as building blocks for devices of integrated optics (where optical waveguides function as wires for light).  From there it was just another jump to utilize these structures as molds for microchannels, so microfluidics was born. In some cases these structures were created for performing chemical reactions (taking the advance of small size, meaning small amount of reagents). In the Lab-on-a-Chip devices (very often) microelectrodes and integrated optical waveguides are combined with microchannels, as a kind of reunion of the elder and younger members of the integrated micro-family. The purpose of this special issue is to show as much as possible of the huge variety of applications and new possibilities that Lab-on-a-Chip technology could provide to us, and eventually to let it ring our doorbells.

Dr. Sándor Valkai
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • microfluidics
  • microelectrode
  • microchannel
  • photolythography

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 5187 KiB  
Article
Design and Modeling of a Device Combining Single-Cell Exposure to a Uniform Electrical Field and Simultaneous Characterization via Bioimpedance Spectroscopy
by Rémi Bettenfeld, Julien Claudel, Djilali Kourtiche, Mustapha Nadi and Cyril Schlauder
Sensors 2023, 23(7), 3460; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23073460 - 25 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1136
Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated the electropermeabilization of cell membranes exposed to an electric field with moderate intensity (<2 V/cm) and a frequency of <100 MHz. Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) is an electrical characterization technique that can be useful in studying this phenomenon because it [...] Read more.
Previous studies have demonstrated the electropermeabilization of cell membranes exposed to an electric field with moderate intensity (<2 V/cm) and a frequency of <100 MHz. Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) is an electrical characterization technique that can be useful in studying this phenomenon because it is already used for electroporation. In this paper, we report a device designed to perform BIS on single cells and expose them to an electric field simultaneously. It also allows cells to be monitored by visualization through a transparent exposure electrode. This device is based on a lab-on-a-chip (LOC) with a microfluidic cell-trapping system and microelectrodes for BIS characterization. We present numerical simulations that support the design of the LOC. We also describe the fabrication of the LOC and the first electrical characterization of its measurement bandwidth. This first test, performed on reference medium with a conductivity in the same order than human cells, confirms that the measurement capabilities of our device are suitable for electrical cells characterization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Trends and Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip)
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19 pages, 27250 KiB  
Article
Simulation of Pressure-Driven and Channel-Based Microfluidics on Different Abstract Levels: A Case Study
by Michel Takken and Robert Wille
Sensors 2022, 22(14), 5392; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22145392 - 19 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2231
Abstract
A microfluidic device, or a Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC), performs lab operations on the microscale through the manipulation of fluids. The design and fabrication of such devices usually is a tedious process, and auxiliary tools, such as simulators, can alleviate the necessary effort for the [...] Read more.
A microfluidic device, or a Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC), performs lab operations on the microscale through the manipulation of fluids. The design and fabrication of such devices usually is a tedious process, and auxiliary tools, such as simulators, can alleviate the necessary effort for the design process. Simulations of fluids exist in various forms and can be categorized according to how well they represent the underlying physics, into so-called abstraction levels. In this work, we consider simulation approaches in 1D, which are based on analytical solutions of simplified problems, and approaches in 2D and 3D, for which we use two different Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods—namely, the Finite Volume Method (FVM) and the Lattice-Boltzmann Method (LBM). All these methods come with their pros and cons with respect to accuracy and required compute time, but unfortunately, most designers and researchers are not aware of the trade-off that can be made within the broad spectrum of available simulation approaches for microfluidics and end up choosing a simulation approach arbitrarily. We provide an overview of different simulation approaches as well as a case study of their performance to aid designers and researchers in their choice. To this end, we consider three representative use cases of pressure-driven and channel-based microfluidic devices (namely the non-Newtonian flow in a channel, the mixing of two fluids in a channel, and the behavior of droplets in channels). The considerations and evaluations raise the awareness and provide several insights for what simulation approaches can be utilized today when designing corresponding devices (and for what they cannot be utilized yet). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Trends and Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip)
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13 pages, 4325 KiB  
Article
Inertia–Acoustophoresis Hybrid Microfluidic Device for Rapid and Efficient Cell Separation
by Uihwan Kim, Byeolnim Oh, Jiyeon Ahn, Sangwook Lee and Younghak Cho
Sensors 2022, 22(13), 4709; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22134709 - 22 Jun 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2510
Abstract
In this paper, we proposed an integrated microfluidic device that could demonstrate the non-contact, label-free separation of particles and cells through the combination of inertial microfluidics and acoustophoresis. The proposed device integrated two microfluidic chips which were a PDMS channel chip on top [...] Read more.
In this paper, we proposed an integrated microfluidic device that could demonstrate the non-contact, label-free separation of particles and cells through the combination of inertial microfluidics and acoustophoresis. The proposed device integrated two microfluidic chips which were a PDMS channel chip on top of the silicon-based acoustofluidic chip. The PDMS chip worked by prefocusing the particles/cells through inducing the inertial force of the channel structure. The connected acoustofluidic chips separated particles based on their size through an acoustic radiation force. In the serpentine-shaped PDMS chip, particles formed two lines focusing in the channel, and a trifugal-shaped acoustofluidic chip displaced and separated particles, in which larger particles focused on the central channel and smaller ones moved to the side channels. The simultaneous fluidic works allowed high-efficiency particle separation. Using this novel acoustofluidic device with an inertial microchannel, the separation of particles and cells based on their size was presented and analyzed, and the efficiency of the device was shown. The device demonstrated excellent separation performance with a high recovery ratio (up to 96.3%), separation efficiency (up to 99%), and high volume rate (>100 µL/min). Our results showed that integrated devices could be a viable alternative to current cell separation based on their low cost, reduced sample consumption and high throughput capability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Trends and Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip)
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14 pages, 3317 KiB  
Article
Surface Optimization and Design Adaptation toward Spheroid Formation On-Chip
by Neda Azizipour, Rahi Avazpour, Mohamad Sawan, Abdellah Ajji and Derek H. Rosenzweig
Sensors 2022, 22(9), 3191; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22093191 - 21 Apr 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1945
Abstract
Spheroids have become an essential tool in preclinical cancer research. The uniformity of spheroids is a critical parameter in drug test results. Spheroids form by self-assembly of cells. Hence, the control of homogeneity of spheroids in terms of size, shape, and density is [...] Read more.
Spheroids have become an essential tool in preclinical cancer research. The uniformity of spheroids is a critical parameter in drug test results. Spheroids form by self-assembly of cells. Hence, the control of homogeneity of spheroids in terms of size, shape, and density is challenging. We developed surface-optimized polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) biochip platforms for uniform spheroid formation on-chip. These biochips were surface modified with 10% bovine serum albumin (BSA) to effectively suppress cell adhesion on the PDMS surface. These surface-optimized platforms facilitate cell self-aggregations to produce homogenous non-scaffold-based spheroids. We produced uniform spheroids on these biochips using six different established human cell lines and a co-culture model. Here, we observe that the concentration of the BSA is important in blocking cell adhesion to the PDMS surfaces. Biochips treated with 3% BSA demonstrated cell repellent properties similar to the bare PDMS surfaces. This work highlights the importance of surface modification on spheroid production on PDMS-based microfluidic devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Trends and Advances in Lab-on-a-Chip)
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