Pumping of mammalian cells with a nozzle-diffuser micropump

Microfluidic Cell Transport with Piezoelectric Micro Diaphragm Pumps

The automated transport of cells can enable far-reaching cell culture research. However, to date, such automated transport has been achieved with large pump systems that often come with long fluidic connections and a large power consumption. Improvement is possible with space- and energy-efficient piezoelectric micro diaphragm pumps, though a precondition for a successful use is to enable transport with little to no mechanical stress on the cell suspension. This study evaluates the impact of the microfluidic transport of cells with the piezoelectric micro diaphragm pump developed by our group. It includes the investigation of different actuation signals. Therewith, we aim to achieve optimal fluidic performance while maximizing the cell viability. The investigation of fluidic properties proves a similar performance with a hybrid actuation signal that is a rectangular waveform with sinusoidal flanks, compared to the fluidically optimal rectangular actuation. The comparison of the cell transport with three actuation signals, sinusoidal, rectangular, and hybrid actuation shows that the hybrid actuation causes less damage than the rectangular actuation. With a 5% reduction of the cell viability it causes similar strain to the transport with sinusoidal actuation. Piezoelectric micro diaphragm pumps with the fluidically efficient hybrid signal actuation are therefore an interesting option for integrable microfluidic workflows.

The performance of bioinspired valveless piezoelectric micropump with respect to viscosity change

This study investigated the effect of the serial connection of two pumping chambers on transport of liquid with increased viscosity. A serially connected valveless piezoelectric micropump was fabricated inspired by the liquid-feeding strategy of a female mosquito drinking liquid with a wide range of viscosities, from nectar to blood. The performance of the micropump was investigated by varying the viscosity of working liquid. Results showed that the optimal phase difference between the two chambers was 180° out-of-phase for all viscosity conditions. The two chambers operating at 180° out-of-phase exhibited higher pumping performance compared with the sum of each single chamber solely actuated, when viscosity increased. The flow patterns in the micropump showed that the rectification efficiency improved with the increase in viscosity. Results indicated that the serially connected valveless piezoelectric micropump is more robust to the increase of viscosity than a single-chamber piezoelectric micropump. This study would be helpful in the design of microfluidic devices for transporting liquids with a wide range of viscosities.

Pancreatic islet cell transplantation: an update

Transplantation of pancreatic islets, as a therapeutic modality for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), at this stage of its development, is reserved for patients with severe glycemic variability, progressive diabetic complications, and life threatening hypoglycemia unawareness, regardless of intensive insulin management. It has not succeeded to become the method of choice for treating T1DM because of limited supply and suboptimal yields of procurement and isolation of islets, graft failure, and relatively high requirements, i.e., at least 10,000 functional Islet Equivalents per kg of patient weight, to achieve prolonged insulin independence and glucose stability. Efforts aimed at making islet transplantation a competitive alternative to exogenous insulin injections for treating T1DM have focused on improving the longevity and functionality of islet cells. In order to succeed, these efforts need to be complemented by others to optimize the rate and efficiency of encapsulation.

Unveiling the missing transport mechanism inside the valveless micropump

It has long been held, misleadingly, that the rectifier is the only decisive element for the design of fluid transportation in a valveless micropump. We have shown here that pump performance is also critically dependent on the design of the vibration chamber, a neglected element in micropump design that has drawn almost no attention in the past. Moreover, the generally used in-line design has, surprisingly, the lowest efficiency. The transport mechanism was found to be linked to the hydraulic coupling of two asymmetric vortex pairs inside the vibration chamber. Based upon the discovered flow mechanism, the proposed design inspired by an ancient fish trap has shown extraordinary improvement in micropump performance. It could also be potentially integrated with most existing designs for further energy saving.

A magnetically controlled MEMS device for drug delivery: design, fabrication, and testing

We report the development of a magnetically controlled drug delivery device for on-demand drug release to treat chronic diseases. The devices consist of drug-loaded micro-reservoirs (6 mm in diameter and ∼550 μm in depth), sealed by magnetic PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) membranes (Ø 6 mm × 40 μm) with laser-drilled apertures and actuated by an external magnetic field. We present a detailed analysis of the magnetic actuation forces and provide an estimate of the resulting membrane deflections. The reservoirs are fabricated by PDMS molding and loaded with drugs using solvent evaporation methods. Post-processing procedures using bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption on magnetic PDMS surfaces are carried out to modify the surface wettability and to allow water filling and dissolution of the drugs in the reservoirs. Detailed surface modification processes are described and characterized. The device demonstrates on-demand delivery of methylene blue (MB) as a model drug. Intermittent magnetic actuations of the device in a ∼200 mT magnetic field show 10-fold increase in MB release compared to background release when the device is not actuated.

Passive flow-rate regulators using pressure-dependent autonomous deflection of parallel membrane valves

We present passive flow-rate regulators using an autonomous deflection of parallel membrane valves, capable to maintain a constant flow-rate at varying inlet pressure supplied from micropumps. The previous passive flow-rate regulators are difficult to integrate with micropumps, not only because of the complex multi-layer structures, but also because of the high threshold inlet pressure required for flow-rate regulation. In this study, we present passive flow-rate regulators using parallel membrane valves, capable of achieving flow-rate regulation function at the minimum threshold inlet pressure as low as 15 kPa with simple structure formed by a single mask process. The parallel membranes in a flow-rate regulator are designed to deflect and adjust flow resistance autonomously according to the inlet pressure, thus maintaining a constant flow-rate independent of the inlet pressure variation. We designed the four different prototypes of W20, W30, W40, and W50, having parallel membrane widths of 20, 30, 40 and 50 microm, respectively. We estimated the flow-rate based on both analytical and numerical models. In an experimental study, we observed the deformation of parallel membranes and the flow-rate depending on the inlet pressure. The fabricated prototypes achieved the constant flow-rate of 6.09 +/- 0.32 microl s(-1) (W20 fabricated by 10 : 1 PDMS (PolyDiMethylSiloxane)) over an inlet pressure of 20 kPa. We also observed that prototypes fabricated by 20 : 1 PDMS, having lower Young's modulus than normal 10 : 1 PDMS, showed a lower threshold pressure and higher regulated flow-rate than prototypes fabricated by 10 : 1 PDMS. W40 fabricated by 20 : 1 PDMS showed a constant flow-rate of 14.53 +/- 0.51 microl s(-1) over inlet pressure of 15 kPa. The present passive flow-rate regulators have strong potential for applications in integrated microfluidic systems.

A facile "liquid-molding" method to fabricate PDMS microdevices with 3-dimensional channel topography

This work deals with a facile "liquid-molding" technology to fabricate PDMS microdevices with complex structured microchannels, the main procedures of which involves: (1) Photo-lithographically fabricating chemical micropatterns of hydrogels on silanized glass substrates to form heterogeneous hydrophilic/hydrophobic surfaces; (2) Fabricating stable 3D surface relief patterns of a liquid via dip-coating the hydrogel patterned substrate in a polar solution; (3) Fabricating PDMS microfluidic devices via a slightly modified replica molding procedure, using a liquid patterned substrate as the molding template. In addition to its simplicity compared to conventional microfabrication methods, this technology produces microchannels with 3D surface topography, which allows for more flexibility in device design and applications. We discuss the main features of the liquid-molding method as well as the structural characteristics of liquid-molded microchannels. We demonstrate the potential application of these "liquid-molded" PDMS (LM-PDMS) devices by designing a cell trapping microdevice that is capable of trapping multiple or individual cells through simple operation procedures.

A cell culturing system that integrates the cell loading function on a single platform and evaluation of the pulsatile pumping effect on cells

In this paper, we present a novel microfluidic system with pulsatile cell storing, cell-delivering and cell culturing functions on a single PDMS platform. For this purpose, we have integrated two reservoirs, a pulsatile pumping system containing two soft check valves, which were fabricated by in situ photopolymerization, six switch valves, and three cell culture chambers all developed through a simple and rapid fabrication process. The sample volume delivered per stroke was 120 nl and the transported volume was linearly related to the pumping frequency. We have investigated the effect of the pulsatile pneumatic micropumping on the cells during transport. For this purpose, we pumped two types of cell suspensions, one containing human breast adenocarcinoma cells (MCF-7) and the other mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) derived from bone marrow. The effect of pulsatile pumping on both cell types was examined by short and long-term culture experiments. Our results showed that the characteristics of both cells were maintained; they were not damaged by the pumping system. Evaluations were carried out by morphological inspection, viability assay and immunophenotyping analysis. The delivered MCF-7 cells and hMSCs spread and proliferated onto the gelatin coated cell culture chamber. This total micro cell culture system can be applied to cell-based high throughput screening and for co-culture of different cells with different volume.

Fully integrated microfluidic separations systems for biochemical analysis

Over the past decade a tremendous amount of research has been performed using microfluidic analytical devices to detect over 200 different chemical species. Most of this work has involved substantial integration of fluid manipulation components such as separation channels, valves, and filters. This level of integration has enabled complex sample processing on miniscule sample volumes. Such devices have also demonstrated high throughput, sensitivity, and separation performance. Although the miniaturization of fluidics has been highly valuable, these devices typically rely on conventional ancillary equipment such as power supplies, detection systems, and pumps for operation. This auxiliary equipment prevents the full realization of a "lab-on-a-chip" device with complete portability, autonomous operation, and low cost. Integration and/or miniaturization of ancillary components would dramatically increase the capability and impact of microfluidic separations systems. This review describes recent efforts to incorporate auxiliary equipment either as miniaturized plug-in modules or directly fabricated into the microfluidic device.

Photopolymerized check valve and its integration into a pneumatic pumping system for biocompatible sample delivery

In this paper, we present a simple check valve whose operation mimics that of venous valves. Our check valve has a mono-leaflet and is constructed via an in situ fabrication method inside the PDMS platform. For the smooth operation of the valve's leaflet, the elasticity and the shape of the leaflet and the lubrication between the leaflet and the channel surface are important. We used 4-hydroxybutyl acrylate (4-HBA) as an elastic and photopolymerizable leaflet material. We mixed the triton X-100 with the 4-HBA pre-polymer solution for the adequate lubrication of the leaflet. We constructed the micro-pumping system by combining two venous-like check valves with an oscillating polymeric diaphragm driven by pneumatic force, and measured the flow rate according to the change of pumping frequency. We also investigated the pump's feasibility as a delivery system of biocompatible materials by using mouse embryo fibroblast cells.