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Microfluidics refers to a system that manipulates a small amount of fluids using small channels with sizes of ten to hundreds of micrometres. It is a multidisciplinary field that involves molecular analysis, molecular biology, and microelectronics. It has practical applications in the design of systems that process low volumes of fluids to achieve multiplexing, automation, and high-throughput screening. Microfluidics emerged in the beginning of the 1980s and is used in the development of inkjet printheads, DNA chips, lab-on-a-chip technology, micro-propulsion, and micro-thermal technologies.
A surface acoustic wave (SAW) is an acoustic wave traveling along the surface of a material exhibiting elasticity, with an amplitude that typically decays exponentially with depth into the material, such that they are confined to a depth of about one wavelength.
A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a device that integrates one or several laboratory functions on a single integrated circuit of only millimeters to a few square centimeters to achieve automation and high-throughput screening. LOCs can handle extremely small fluid volumes down to less than pico-liters. Lab-on-a-chip devices are a subset of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices and sometimes called "micro total analysis systems" (μTAS). LOCs may use microfluidics, the physics, manipulation and study of minute amounts of fluids. However, strictly regarded "lab-on-a-chip" indicates generally the scaling of single or multiple lab processes down to chip-format, whereas "μTAS" is dedicated to the integration of the total sequence of lab processes to perform chemical analysis.
Bio-MEMS is an abbreviation for biomedical microelectromechanical systems. Bio-MEMS have considerable overlap, and is sometimes considered synonymous, with lab-on-a-chip (LOC) and micro total analysis systems (μTAS). Bio-MEMS is typically more focused on mechanical parts and microfabrication technologies made suitable for biological applications. On the other hand, lab-on-a-chip is concerned with miniaturization and integration of laboratory processes and experiments into single chips. In this definition, lab-on-a-chip devices do not strictly have biological applications, although most do or are amenable to be adapted for biological purposes. Similarly, micro total analysis systems may not have biological applications in mind, and are usually dedicated to chemical analysis. A broad definition for bio-MEMS can be used to refer to the science and technology of operating at the microscale for biological and biomedical applications, which may or may not include any electronic or mechanical functions. The interdisciplinary nature of bio-MEMS combines material sciences, clinical sciences, medicine, surgery, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, optical engineering, chemical engineering, and biomedical engineering. Some of its major applications include genomics, proteomics, molecular diagnostics, point-of-care diagnostics, tissue engineering, single cell analysis and implantable microdevices.
Cell sorting is the process through which a particular cell type is separated from others contained in a sample on the basis of its physical or biological properties, such as size, morphological parameters, viability and both extracellular and intracellular protein expression. The homogeneous cell population obtained after sorting can be used for a variety of applications including research, diagnosis, and therapy.
Lung-on-a-chip (LoC), also known as Lung Chips, are micro- and millifluidic organ-on-a-chip devices designed to replicate the structure and function of the human lung, mimicking the breathing motions and fluid dynamics that occur during inhalation and exhalation. LoCs represent the most promising alternative to replace animal testing.
An organ-on-a-chip (OOC) is a multi-channel 3-D microfluidic cell culture, integrated circuit (chip) that simulates the activities, mechanics and physiological response of an entire organ or an organ system. It constitutes the subject matter of significant biomedical engineering research, more precisely in bio-MEMS. The convergence of labs-on-chips (LOCs) and cell biology has permitted the study of human physiology in an organ-specific context. By acting as a more sophisticated in vitro approximation of complex tissues than standard cell culture, they provide the potential as an alternative to animal models for drug development and toxin testing.
Luke Pyungse Lee is the Arnold and Barbara Silverman Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering, Biophysics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, at University of California, Berkeley. He is founding director of the Biomedical Institute for Global Health Research and Technology (BIGHEART) at the National University of Singapore.
Acoustic tweezers are a set of tools that use sound waves to manipulate the position and movement of very small objects. Strictly speaking, only a single-beam based configuration can be called acoustical tweezers. However, the broad concept of acoustical tweezers involves two configurations of beams: single beam and standing waves. The technology works by controlling the position of acoustic pressure nodes that draw objects to specific locations of a standing acoustic field. The target object must be considerably smaller than the wavelength of sound used, and the technology is typically used to manipulate microscopic particles.
Microfluidic cell culture integrates knowledge from biology, biochemistry, engineering, and physics to develop devices and techniques for culturing, maintaining, analyzing, and experimenting with cells at the microscale. It merges microfluidics, a set of technologies used for the manipulation of small fluid volumes within artificially fabricated microsystems, and cell culture, which involves the maintenance and growth of cells in a controlled laboratory environment. Microfluidics has been used for cell biology studies as the dimensions of the microfluidic channels are well suited for the physical scale of cells. For example, eukaryotic cells have linear dimensions between 10 and 100 μm which falls within the range of microfluidic dimensions. A key component of microfluidic cell culture is being able to mimic the cell microenvironment which includes soluble factors that regulate cell structure, function, behavior, and growth. Another important component for the devices is the ability to produce stable gradients that are present in vivo as these gradients play a significant role in understanding chemotactic, durotactic, and haptotactic effects on cells.
Droplet-based microfluidics manipulate discrete volumes of fluids in immiscible phases with low Reynolds number and laminar flow regimes. Interest in droplet-based microfluidics systems has been growing substantially in past decades. Microdroplets offer the feasibility of handling miniature volumes of fluids conveniently, provide better mixing, encapsulation, sorting, sensing and are suitable for high throughput experiments. Two immiscible phases used for the droplet based systems are referred to as the continuous phase and dispersed phase.
Paper-based microfluidics are microfluidic devices that consist of a series of hydrophilic cellulose or nitrocellulose fibers that transport fluid from an inlet through the porous medium to a desired outlet or region of the device, by means of capillary action. This technology builds on the conventional lateral flow test which is capable of detecting many infectious agents and chemical contaminants. The main advantage of this is that it is largely a passively controlled device unlike more complex microfluidic devices. Development of paper-based microfluidic devices began in the early 21st century to meet a need for inexpensive and portable medical diagnostic systems.
Microfluidics refers to the flow of fluid in channels or networks with at least one dimension on the micron scale. In open microfluidics, also referred to as open surface microfluidics or open-space microfluidics, at least one boundary confining the fluid flow of a system is removed, exposing the fluid to air or another interface such as a second fluid.
Open microfluidics can be employed in the multidimensional culturing of cell types for various applications including organ-on-a-chip studies, oxygen-driven reactions, neurodegeneration, cell migration, and other cellular pathways.
Jonathan Cooper is Professor of Engineering in the College of Science & Engineering at the University of Glasgow. Professor Cooper has held the Wolfson Chair in Bioengineering at the school since 2009.
Antje Baeumner is a German chemist who is Professor and Director of the Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Chemo- and Biosensors at the University of Regensburg in Germany. Her research considers biosensors and lab-on-a-chip devices for the detection of pathogenic organisms.
Cho Yoon-Kyoung is an interdisciplinary researcher involved in basic science to translational research in microfluidics and nanomedicine. She is a group leader in the Center for Soft and Living Matter at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and a full professor in Biomedical Engineering at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Korea. Cho is a member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Kuan Wang is a Taiwanese biochemist known for his contributions to muscle biochemistry and cell biology. He has an h-index of 54.
Amy Rowat is an Associate Professor of biophysics at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and the first Marcie H. Rothman Presidential Chair in Food Studies. Her scientific research focuses on understanding the physical and mechanical properties of cells in diseases such as cancer. She also organizes public events on the science of cooking.
Z. Hugh Fan is a US-based biomedical engineer, chemist, scientist, inventor, and academic. Hugh Fan is the Steve and Louise Scott Excellence Fellow and Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida (UF). At UF, he is director of the Microfluidics and BioMEMS Laboratory, a research lab and part of the Interdisciplinary Microsystems Group (IMG). Hugh Fan is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He is known for his pioneering work in microfluidics in the early 1990s, while his research work spans microfluidics, biomedical microelectromechanical systems (BioMEMS), sensors, cancer and medical diagnostics, and pathogen and virus detection. Hugh Fan's work has significantly contributed to the development of lab-on-a-chip technologies and microfluidic devices for various biomedical applications. He has developed microfluidic devices using aptamers, special DNA or RNA sequences, to isolate and study different types of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood, offering an alternative to antibody-based methods. In 2018, Hugh Fan and John Lednicky co-led a team at the University of Florida that developed a rapid, cost-effective point-of-care test for the Zika virus. Their work with C. Y. Wu on SARS-CoV-2 in 2020 helped change the opinion on virus transmission route from “droplets” in 2020 to “airborne” in 2021.
References
- ↑ "Mingming Wu". Cornell University. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
- ↑ "BME Seminar Series: Dr. Mingming Wu, Cornell University". Ohio State University. March 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
- ↑ Fleischman, Tom (20 October 2016). "3 faculty elected fellows of American Physical Society". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
- ↑ Cheng, Shing-Yi; Heilman, Steven; Wasserman, Max; Archer, Shivaun; Shuler, Michael L.; Wu, Mingming (2007). "A hydrogel-based microfluidic device for the studies of directed cell migration". Lab on a Chip. 7 (6): 763–9. doi:10.1039/b618463d. ISSN 1473-0197. PMID 17538719.
- ↑ Huang, Yu Ling; Segall, Jeffrey E.; Wu, Mingming (2017). "Microfluidic modeling of the biophysical microenvironment in tumor cell invasion". Lab on a Chip. 17 (19): 3221–3233. doi:10.1039/c7lc00623c. ISSN 1473-0197. PMC 6007858 . PMID 28805874.
- ↑ "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi:10.1073/pnas. hdl: 2164/23453 . S2CID 10638657.
- ↑ Tung, Chih-kuan; Hu, Lian; Fiore, Alyssa G.; Ardon, Florencia; Hickman, Dillon G.; Gilbert, Robert O.; Suarez, Susan S.; Wu, Mingming (2015-04-28). "Microgrooves and fluid flows provide preferential passageways for sperm over pathogen Tritrichomonas foetus". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112 (17): 5431–5436. Bibcode:2015PNAS..112.5431T. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1500541112 . PMC 4418881 . PMID 25870286.
- ↑ Kim, Beum Jun; Richter, Lubna V.; Hatter, Nicholas; Tung, Chih-kuan; Ahner, Beth A.; Wu, Mingming (2015). "An array microhabitat system for high throughput studies of microalgal growth under controlled nutrient gradients". Lab on a Chip. 15 (18): 3687–3694. doi:10.1039/c5lc00727e. ISSN 1473-0197. PMID 26248065.
- ↑ "Penn Engineers Calculate Interplay Between Cancer Cells and Environment". Penn Today, University of Pennsylvania. 2016-12-07. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ↑ "Physics tool helps track cancer cell diversity". ScienceDaily. 2020-02-20. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
