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Qian Q, Xu W, Tian H, Cheng W, Zhou L, Wang J. Model-Based Feedback Control for an Automated Micro Liquid Dispensing System Based on Contacting Droplet Generation through Image Sensing. MICROMACHINES 2023; 14:1938. [PMID: 37893375 PMCID: PMC10609237 DOI: 10.3390/mi14101938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
Over the past few decades, micro liquid dispensing technology has been widely used in biology, chemistry, material and environmental sciences due to its efficacy in processing multiple samples. For practical applications, precise and effective droplet generation is very important. Despite numerous droplet generation methods, the implementation of droplet-on-demand still faces challenges concerning system complexity, precision, cost, and robustness. In this work, a novel on-demand contacting droplet generation method incorporated with model-based feedback control with an image processing unit as a sensor was proposed. By studying droplet identification using image processing techniques, the model of droplet formation was simplified. Then model-based feedback control was implemented using volumes of dispensed samples as sensing signals by tuning related parameters adaptively to resist disturbances. The proposed method was integrated and applied to a homebuilt automated micro liquid dispensing system with droplets ranging from 20 nanoliter to 200 nanoliter. The experimental results demonstrated a high degree of accuracy and precision. Additionally, the proposed system's practical utility was evaluated by analyzing mutations in genes associated with sensorineural hearing loss, verifying its effectiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing Qian
- School of Biomedical Engineering (Suzhou), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China; (Q.Q.); (W.X.)
- CAS Key Laboratory of Biomedical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Suzhou 215163, China; (H.T.); (W.C.)
| | - Wenchang Xu
- School of Biomedical Engineering (Suzhou), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China; (Q.Q.); (W.X.)
- CAS Key Laboratory of Biomedical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Suzhou 215163, China; (H.T.); (W.C.)
| | - Haoran Tian
- CAS Key Laboratory of Biomedical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Suzhou 215163, China; (H.T.); (W.C.)
| | - Wenbo Cheng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Biomedical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Suzhou 215163, China; (H.T.); (W.C.)
- Tianjin Guoke Medical Engineering and Technology Development Co., Ltd., Tianjin 300399, China
| | - Lianqun Zhou
- School of Biomedical Engineering (Suzhou), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China; (Q.Q.); (W.X.)
- CAS Key Laboratory of Biomedical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Suzhou 215163, China; (H.T.); (W.C.)
| | - Jishuai Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering (Suzhou), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China; (Q.Q.); (W.X.)
- CAS Key Laboratory of Biomedical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Suzhou 215163, China; (H.T.); (W.C.)
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Coppola L, Smaldone G, Cianflone A, Baselice S, Mirabelli P, Salvatore M. Purification of viable peripheral blood mononuclear cells for biobanking using a robotized liquid handling workstation. J Transl Med 2019; 17:371. [PMID: 31718655 PMCID: PMC6852781 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-019-2125-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2019] [Accepted: 11/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The purification of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by means of density gradient (1.07 g/mL) centrifugation is one of the most commonly used methods in diagnostics and research laboratories as well as in biobanks. Here, we evaluated whether it was possible to set up an automated protocol for PBMC purification using a programmable liquid handling robotized workstation (Tecan, Freedom EVO 150). We selected a population composed of 30 subjects for whom it was possible to dispose of two ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) vacutainer tubes containing unfractionated peripheral blood. The purification of PBMCs was performed in parallel using automated and manual workflows. Results An automated workflow using the Freedom EVO 150 liquid handling workstation was generated for the isolation of PBMCs. This protocol allowed blood dilution in Dulbecco’s phosphate-buffered saline (DPBS), stratification onto the density gradient, and the collection of PBMC rings after centrifugation. The comparison between the automated and manual methods revealed no significant differences after separation in terms of total mononuclear cell enrichment, red blood cell contamination, or leucocyte formula, including the percentage of lymphoid subpopulations as B, T and natural killer (NK) lymphocytes. Conclusions Our results show that it is possible to set up an automated protocol for the isolation of PBMCs using a robotized liquid handling workstation. This automated protocol provided comparable results to the routinely used manual method. This automatic method could be of interest for those working in biobanking or industries involved in diagnostics and therapeutics field, to avoid operator-dependent errors as well as procedures standardization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luigi Coppola
- IRCCS SDN, Naples Via Emanuele Gianturco, 113, 80143, Naples, Italy
| | | | | | - Simona Baselice
- IRCCS SDN, Naples Via Emanuele Gianturco, 113, 80143, Naples, Italy
| | - Peppino Mirabelli
- IRCCS SDN, Naples Via Emanuele Gianturco, 113, 80143, Naples, Italy.
| | - Marco Salvatore
- IRCCS SDN, Naples Via Emanuele Gianturco, 113, 80143, Naples, Italy
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Park CY, Yeon J, Song HJ, Kim YS, Nahm KB, Kim JD. Automated pipette failure monitoring using image processing for point-of-care testing devices. Biomed Eng Online 2018; 17:144. [PMID: 30396357 PMCID: PMC6219047 DOI: 10.1186/s12938-018-0578-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The accuracy and precision of liquid handling can be altered by several causes including wearing or failure of parts, and human error. The last cause is crucial since point-of-care testing (POCT) devices can be used by non-experienced users or patients themselves. Therefore it is important to improve the method of informing the users of POCT device malfunctions due to damage of parts or human error. Methods In this paper, image-based failure monitoring of the automated pipetting was introduced for POCT devices. An inexpensive, high-performance camera for smartphones was employed in our previous work to resolve various malfunctions such as incorrect insertion of the tip, false positioning of the tip and pump, and improper operation of the pump. The image acquired from the camera was analyzed to detect the malfunctions. In this paper, the reagent volume in the tip was estimated from the image processing to verify the pump operation. First, the color component corresponding to the reagent intrinsic color was extracted to identify the reagent area in the tip before applying the binary image processing. The extracted reagent area was projected horizontally and the support length of the projection image was calculated. As the support length was related to the reagent volume, it was referred to the volume length. The relationship between the measured volume length and the previously measured solution mass was investigated. If we can predict the mass of the solution by the volume length, we will be able to detect the pump malfunction. Results The cube of the volume length obtained by the proposed image processing method showed a very linear relationship with the reagent mass in the tip injected by the pumping operation (R2 = 0.996), indicating that the volume length could be utilized to estimate the reagent volume to monitor the accuracy and precision of the pumping operation. Conclusions An inexpensive smartphone camera was enough to detect various malfunctions of a POCT device with pumping operation. The proposed image processing could monitor the level of inaccuracy of pumping volume in limited range. The simple image processing such as a fixed threshold and projections was employed for the cost optimization and system robustness. However it delivered the promising results because the imaging condition was highly controllable in the devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chan-Young Park
- Department of Convergence Software, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea.,Bio-IT Research Center, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea
| | - Jun Yeon
- Department of Convergence Software, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea.,Bio-IT Research Center, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea
| | - Hye-Jeong Song
- Department of Convergence Software, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea.,Bio-IT Research Center, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea
| | - Yu-Seop Kim
- Department of Convergence Software, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea.,Bio-IT Research Center, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea
| | - Ki-Bong Nahm
- Department of Electron Physics, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea
| | - Jong-Dae Kim
- Department of Convergence Software, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea. .,Bio-IT Research Center, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea.
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Ando T, Hirano M, Ishige Y, Adachi S. Precise Dispensing Technology Using Electroformed Tubes for Micro-Volume Blood Diagnosis. IEEE JOURNAL OF TRANSLATIONAL ENGINEERING IN HEALTH AND MEDICINE-JTEHM 2016; 6:2800506. [PMID: 30042905 PMCID: PMC6054515 DOI: 10.1109/jtehm.2018.2852664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2018] [Revised: 05/31/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Precise dispensing of droplets is a crucial step for acquiring reliable blood diagnostic results. When the source sample volume is limited, the need for precise dispensing of submicroliter and nanoliter quantities is especially important. In this paper, we developed a positive-displacement high-precision dispensing technique using a nickel electroformed tube with an inner diameter accuracy of [Formula: see text] or less. When dispensing variation of 100 nL was evaluated by using a photometric method, the most stable coefficients of variation (CV) were observed for a tube thickness of [Formula: see text] with hydrophobic treatment, where the average CV value was 1.3%, i.e., 1.3 nL. Furthermore, the glucose concentration of 100- and 200-nL animal-based control serum was colorimetrically measured using enzymatic reactions without drying and mixing reagents. The CV value was approximately 6.36% at 100 nL and 3.23% at 200 nL, suggesting that several biochemical panels can be precisely measured even from less than one drop of blood. This positive-displacement dispenser ensures zero contamination and almost-zero dead volume, thus it would be useful for multi-panel clinical blood testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takahiro Ando
- Research & Development GroupHitachi, Ltd.Tokyo185-8601Japan
| | - Masaaki Hirano
- Research & Development GroupHitachi, Ltd.Tokyo185-8601Japan
| | - Yu Ishige
- Research & Development GroupHitachi, Ltd.Tokyo185-8601Japan
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