1
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Boonhaijaroen N, Sitthi-amorn P, Srituravanich W, Suanpong K, Ekgasit S, Pengprecha S. Alignment Control of Ferrite-Decorated Nanocarbon Material for 3D Printing. MICROMACHINES 2024; 15:763. [PMID: 38930733 PMCID: PMC11205456 DOI: 10.3390/mi15060763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2024] [Revised: 05/31/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
This paper demonstrates the potential of anisotropic 3D printing for alignable carbon nanomaterials. The ferrite-decorated nanocarbon material was synthesized via a sodium solvation process using epichlorohydrin as the coupling agent. Employing a one-pot synthesis approach, the novel material was incorporated into a 3D photopolymer, manipulated, and printed using a low-cost microscale 3D printer, equipped with digital micromirror lithography, monitoring optics, and magnetic actuators. This technique highlights the ability to control the microstructure of 3D-printed objects with sub-micron precision for applications such as microelectrode sensors and microrobot fabrication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narit Boonhaijaroen
- Technopreneurship and Innovation Management Program, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | | | | | - Kwanrat Suanpong
- Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Sanong Ekgasit
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Somchai Pengprecha
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
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2
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Mahani MA, Karimvand AN, Naserifar N. Optimized hybrid dielectrophoretic microchip for separation of bioparticles. J Sep Sci 2023; 46:e2300257. [PMID: 37480169 DOI: 10.1002/jssc.202300257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023]
Abstract
Point-of-care diagnostics requires a smart separation of particles and/or cells. In this work, the multiorifice fluid fractionation as a passive method and dielectrophoresis-based actuator as an active tool are combined to offer a new device for size-based particle separation. The main objective of the combination of these two well-established techniques is to improve the performance of the multiorifice fluid fractionation by taking advantage of dielectrophoresis-based actuator for separating particles. Initially, by using numerical simulations, the effect of using dielectrophoresis-based actuator in multiorifice fluid fractionation on the separation of particles was investigated, and the size of the device was optimized by 25% compared to a device without dielectrophoresis-based actuator. Also, adding dielectrophoresis-based actuator to multiorifice fluid fractionation can extend the range of flow rates needed for separation. In the absence of dielectrophoresis-based actuator, the separation took place only when the flow rate is 100 μL/min, in the presence of dielectrophoresis-based actuator (20 Vp-p), the separation happened in flow rates ranging from 70 to 120 μL/min.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moheb Amir Mahani
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Naser Naserifar
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
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3
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Ali M, Park J. Ultrasonic surface acoustic wave-assisted separation of microscale droplets with varying acoustic impedance. ULTRASONICS SONOCHEMISTRY 2023; 93:106305. [PMID: 36706667 PMCID: PMC9938309 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2023.106305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2022] [Revised: 01/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
In droplet-based microfluidic platforms, precise separation of microscale droplets of different chemical composition is increasingly necessary for high-throughput combinatorial chemistry in drug discovery and screening assays. A variety of droplet sorting methods have been proposed, in which droplets of the same kind are translocated. However, there has been relatively less effort in developing techniques to separate the uniform-sized droplets of different chemical composition. Most of the previous droplet sorting or separation techniques either rely on the droplet size for the separation marker or adopt on-demand application of a force field for the droplet sorting or separation. The existing droplet microfluidic separation techniques based on the in-droplet chemical composition are still in infancy because of the technical difficulties. In this study, we propose an acoustofluidic method to simultaneously separate microscale droplets of the same volume and dissimilar acoustic impedance using ultrasonic surface acoustic wave (SAW)-induced acoustic radiation force (ARF). For extensive investigation on the SAW-induced ARF acting on both cylindrical and spherical droplets, we first performed a set of the droplet sorting experiments under varying conditions of acoustic impedance of the dispersed phase fluid, droplet velocity, and wave amplitude. Moreover, for elucidation of the underlying physics, a new dimensionless number ARD was introduced, which was defined as the ratio of the ARF to the drag force acting on the droplets. The experimental results were comparatively analyzed by using a ray acoustics approach and found to be in good agreement with the theoretical estimation. Based on the findings, we successfully demonstrated the simultaneous separation of uniform-sized droplets of the different acoustic impedance under continuous application of the acoustic field in a label-free and detection-free manner. Insomuch as on-chip, precise separation of multiple kinds of droplets is critical in many droplet microfluidic applications, the proposed acoustofluidic approach will provide new prospects for microscale droplet separation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mushtaq Ali
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chonnam National University, Yongbong-ro 77, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
| | - Jinsoo Park
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chonnam National University, Yongbong-ro 77, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea.
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4
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Lee S, Lee W, Lee AC, Nam J, Lee J, Kim H, Jeong Y, Yeom H, Kim N, Song SW, Kwon S. I-LIFT (image-based laser-induced forward transfer) platform for manipulating encoded microparticles. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2022; 16:061101. [PMID: 36483021 PMCID: PMC9726220 DOI: 10.1063/5.0131733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Encoded microparticles have great potential in small-volume multiplexed assays. It is important to link the micro-level assays to the macro-level by indexing and manipulating the microparticles to enhance their versatility. There are technologies to actively manipulate the encoded microparticles, but none is capable of directly manipulating the encoded microparticles with homogeneous physical properties. Here, we report the image-based laser-induced forward transfer system for active manipulation of the graphically encoded microparticles. By demonstrating the direct retrieval of the microparticles of interest, we show that this system has the potential to expand the usage of encoded microparticles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sumin Lee
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Wooseok Lee
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Amos Chungwon Lee
- Bio-MAX Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Juhong Nam
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - JinYoung Lee
- Division of Engineering Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
| | - Hamin Kim
- Interdisciplinary Program in Bioengineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Yunjin Jeong
- Bio-MAX Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Huiran Yeom
- Bio-MAX Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Namphil Kim
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Seo Woo Song
- Bio-MAX Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Sunghoon Kwon
- Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed: and
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5
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Abstract
Cell manipulation in droplets has emerged as one of the great successes of microfluidic technologies, with the development of single-cell screening. However, the droplet format has also served to go beyond single-cell studies, namely by considering the interactions between different cells or between cells and their physical or chemical environment. These studies pose specific challenges linked to the need for long-term culture of adherent cells or the diverse types of measurements associated with complex biological phenomena. Here we review the emergence of droplet microfluidic methods for culturing cells and studying their interactions. We begin by characterizing the quantitative aspects that determine the ability to encapsulate cells, transport molecules, and provide sufficient nutrients within the droplets. This is followed by an evaluation of the biological constraints such as the control of the biochemical environment and promoting the anchorage of adherent cells. This first part ends with a description of measurement methods that have been developed. The second part of the manuscript focuses on applications of these technologies for cancer studies, immunology, and stem cells while paying special attention to the biological relevance of the cellular assays and providing guidelines on improving this relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Sart
- LadHyX, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91120 Palaiseau, France.,Physical Microfluidics and Bioengineering, Institut Pasteur, 25-28 Rue du Dr. Roux, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Gustave Ronteix
- LadHyX, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91120 Palaiseau, France.,Physical Microfluidics and Bioengineering, Institut Pasteur, 25-28 Rue du Dr. Roux, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Shreyansh Jain
- LadHyX, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91120 Palaiseau, France.,Physical Microfluidics and Bioengineering, Institut Pasteur, 25-28 Rue du Dr. Roux, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Gabriel Amselem
- LadHyX, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91120 Palaiseau, France.,Physical Microfluidics and Bioengineering, Institut Pasteur, 25-28 Rue du Dr. Roux, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Charles N Baroud
- LadHyX, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91120 Palaiseau, France.,Physical Microfluidics and Bioengineering, Institut Pasteur, 25-28 Rue du Dr. Roux, 75015 Paris, France
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6
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Mustafa A, Pedone E, Marucci L, Moschou D, Lorenzo MD. A flow-through microfluidic chip for continuous dielectrophoretic separation of viable and non-viable human T-cells. Electrophoresis 2021; 43:501-508. [PMID: 34717293 DOI: 10.1002/elps.202100031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Effective methods for rapid sorting of cells according to their viability are critical in T cells based therapies to prevent any risk to patients. In this context, we present a novel microfluidic device that continuously separates viable and non-viable T-cells according to their dielectric properties. A dielectrophoresis (DEP) force is generated by an array of castellated microelectrodes embedded into a microfluidic channel with a single inlet and two outlets; cells subjected to positive DEP forces are drawn toward the electrodes array and leave from the top outlet, those subjected to negative DEP forces are repelled away from the electrodes and leave from the bottom outlet. Computational fluid dynamics is used to predict the device separation efficacy, according to the applied alternative current (AC) frequency, at which the cells move from/to a negative/positive DEP region and the ionic strength of the suspension medium. The model is used to support the design of the operational conditions, confirming a separation efficiency, in terms of purity, of 96% under an applied AC frequency of 1.5 × 106 Hz and a flow rate of 20 μl/h. This work represents the first example of effective continuous sorting of viable and non-viable human T-cells in a single-inlet microfluidic chip, paving the way for lab-on-a-chip applications at the point of need.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adil Mustafa
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, UK
- Centre for Biosensors, Bioelectronics and Biodevices, University of Bath, Bath, UK
- Current address: Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Elisa Pedone
- Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Lucia Marucci
- Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Despina Moschou
- Centre for Biosensors, Bioelectronics and Biodevices, University of Bath, Bath, UK
- Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, UK
| | - Mirella Di Lorenzo
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, UK
- Centre for Biosensors, Bioelectronics and Biodevices, University of Bath, Bath, UK
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7
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Banerjee U, Jain SK, Sen AK. Particle encapsulation in aqueous ferrofluid drops and sorting of particle-encapsulating drops from empty drops using a magnetic field. SOFT MATTER 2021; 17:6020-6028. [PMID: 34060567 DOI: 10.1039/d1sm00530h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Handling and manipulation of particle-encapsulating droplets (PED) have profound applications in biochemical assays. Herein we report encapsulation of microparticles in aqueous ferrofluid droplets in a primary continuous phase (CP) and sorting of PED from empty droplets (ED) at the interface of the CP in coflow with a second continuous phase using a magnetic field. We find that the encapsulation process results in a size contrast between the PED and ED that depends on the flow regime - squeezing, dripping, or jetting - which in turn is governed by the ratio of the discrete phase to the continuous phase capillary number, Car. The difference between the volume fractions of ferrofluid in the PED and ED, ΔαPED, is utilized for sorting, and is found to depend on the ratio of the capillary numbers, Car. The difference ΔαPED is found to be maximum in the jetting regime, suggesting that the jetting regime is most suitable for encapsulation and sorting. The sorting criterion is represented in terms of a parameter ξ, which is a function of the ratios of the magnetic force to the interfacial force experienced by the PED and ED. Our study revealed that sorting is possible for ξ < 0, which corresponds to ΔαPED > 0.25. The maximum sorting efficiency of our system is found to be ∼95% at a throughput of ∼100 drops per s.
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Affiliation(s)
- U Banerjee
- Micro Nano Bio-Fluidics Unit, Fluid Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai-600036, India.
| | - S K Jain
- Micro Nano Bio-Fluidics Unit, Fluid Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai-600036, India.
| | - A K Sen
- Micro Nano Bio-Fluidics Unit, Fluid Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai-600036, India.
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8
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Liu Z, Fornell A, Tenje M. A droplet acoustofluidic platform for time-controlled microbead-based reactions. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2021; 15:034103. [PMID: 34025895 PMCID: PMC8131108 DOI: 10.1063/5.0050440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Droplet microfluidics is a powerful method used to characterize chemical reactions at high throughput. Often detection is performed via in-line optical readout, which puts high demands on the detection system or makes detection of low concentration substrates challenging. Here, we have developed a droplet acoustofluidic chip for time-controlled reactions that can be combined with off-line optical readout. The principle of the platform is demonstrated by the enzymatic conversion of fluorescein diphosphate to fluorescein by alkaline phosphatase. The novelty of this work is that the time of the enzymatic reaction is controlled by physically removing the enzymes from the droplets instead of using chemical inhibitors. This is advantageous as inhibitors could potentially interact with the readout. Droplets containing substrate were generated on the chip, and enzyme-coupled microbeads were added into the droplets via pico-injection. The reaction starts as soon as the enzyme/bead complexes are added, and the reaction is stopped when the microbeads are removed from the droplets at a channel bifurcation. The encapsulated microbeads were focused in the droplets by acoustophoresis during the split, leaving the product in the side daughter droplet to be collected for the analysis (without beads). The time of the reaction was controlled by using different outlets, positioned at different lengths from the pico-injector. The enzymatic conversion could be measured with fluorescence readout in a separate PDMS based assay chip. We show the ability to perform time-controlled enzymatic assays in droplet microfluidics coupled to an off-line optical readout, without the need of enzyme inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenhua Liu
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, SE-752 37 Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Maria Tenje
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, SE-752 37 Uppsala, Sweden
- Author to whom correspondence should be addressed:
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9
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Arun Sankar EM, Shahab M, Rengaswamy R. Spacing Optimization for Active Droplet Sorting in Microfluidic Networks Using Genetic Algorithm. Ind Eng Chem Res 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.0c04455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- E. M. Arun Sankar
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - Mohammad Shahab
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - Raghunathan Rengaswamy
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
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10
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Puttaswamy SV, Bhalla N, Kelsey C, Lubarsky G, Lee C, McLaughlin J. Independent and grouped 3D cell rotation in a microfluidic device for bioimaging applications. Biosens Bioelectron 2020; 170:112661. [PMID: 33032194 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2020.112661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Revised: 09/16/2020] [Accepted: 09/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Cell rotation reveals important information which facilitates identification and characterization of different cells. Markedly, achieving three dimensional (3D) rolling rotation of single cells within a larger group of cells is rare among existing cell rotation techniques. In this work we present a simple biochip which can be used to trap and rotate a single cell, or to rotate multiple cells relative to each other within a group of individual red blood cells (RBCs), which is crucial for imaging cells in 3D. To achieve single RBC trapping, we employ two parallel sidewall 3D electrodes to produce a dielectrophoretic force which traps cells inside the capturing chambers of the microfluidic device, where the hydrodynamic force then induces precise rotation of the cell inside the chamber. We have also demonstrated the possibility of using the developed biochip to preconcentrate and rotate RBC clusters in 3D. As our proposed cell trapping and rotation device reduces the intricacy of cell rotation, the developed technique may have important implications for high resolution 3D cell imaging in the investigation of complex cell dynamics and interactions in moving media.
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Affiliation(s)
- Srinivasu Valagerahally Puttaswamy
- Nanotechnology and Integrated Bioengineering Centre (NIBEC), School of Engineering, Ulster University, Jordanstown Shore Road, BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
| | - Nikhil Bhalla
- Nanotechnology and Integrated Bioengineering Centre (NIBEC), School of Engineering, Ulster University, Jordanstown Shore Road, BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom; Healthcare Technology Hub, Ulster University, Jordanstown Shore Road, BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
| | - Colin Kelsey
- Nanotechnology and Integrated Bioengineering Centre (NIBEC), School of Engineering, Ulster University, Jordanstown Shore Road, BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
| | - Gennady Lubarsky
- Nanotechnology and Integrated Bioengineering Centre (NIBEC), School of Engineering, Ulster University, Jordanstown Shore Road, BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
| | - Chengkuo Lee
- Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, 117576, Singapore
| | - James McLaughlin
- Nanotechnology and Integrated Bioengineering Centre (NIBEC), School of Engineering, Ulster University, Jordanstown Shore Road, BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom; Healthcare Technology Hub, Ulster University, Jordanstown Shore Road, BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
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11
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Navi M, Abbasi N, Salari A, Tsai SSH. Magnetic water-in-water droplet microfluidics: Systematic experiments and scaling mathematical analysis. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2020; 14:024101. [PMID: 32161632 PMCID: PMC7056455 DOI: 10.1063/1.5144137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2020] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
A major barrier to the clinical utilization of microfluidically generated water-in-oil droplets is the cumbersome washing steps required to remove the non-biocompatible organic oil phase from the droplets. In this paper, we report an on-chip magnetic water-in-water droplet generation and manipulation platform using a biocompatible aqueous two-phase system of a polyethylene glycol-polypropylene glycol-polyethylene glycol triblock copolymer (PEG-PPG-PEG) and dextran (DEX), eliminating the need for subsequent washing steps. By careful selection of a ferrofluid that shows an affinity toward the DEX phase (the dispersed phase in our microfluidic device), we generate magnetic DEX droplets in a non-magnetic continuous phase of PEG-PPG-PEG. We apply an external magnetic field to manipulate the droplets and sort them into different outlets. We also perform scaling analysis to model the droplet deflection and find that the experimental data show good agreement with the model. We expect that this type of all-biocompatible magnetic droplet microfluidic system will find utility in biomedical applications, such as long-term single cell analysis. In addition, the model can be used for designing experimental parameters to achieve a desired droplet trajectory.
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12
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Al-Hetlani E, Amin MO. Continuous magnetic droplets and microfluidics: generation, manipulation, synthesis and detection. Mikrochim Acta 2019; 186:55. [DOI: 10.1007/s00604-018-3118-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2018] [Accepted: 11/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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13
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Navi M, Abbasi N, Jeyhani M, Gnyawali V, Tsai SSH. Microfluidic diamagnetic water-in-water droplets: a biocompatible cell encapsulation and manipulation platform. LAB ON A CHIP 2018; 18:3361-3370. [PMID: 30375625 DOI: 10.1039/c8lc00867a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Droplet microfluidics enables cellular encapsulation for biomedical applications such as single-cell analysis, which is an important tool used by biologists to study cells on a single-cell level, and understand cellular heterogeneity in cell populations. However, most cell encapsulation strategies in microfluidics rely on random encapsulation processes, resulting in large numbers of empty droplets. Therefore, post-sorting of droplets is necessary to obtain samples of purely cell-encapsulating droplets. With the recent advent of aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) as a biocompatible alternative of the conventional water-in-oil droplet systems for cellular encapsulation, there has also been a focus on integrating ATPS with droplet microfluidics. In this paper, we describe a new technique that combines ATPS-based water-in-water droplets with diamagnetic manipulation to isolate single-cell encapsulating water-in-water droplets, and achieve a purity of 100% in a single pass. We exploit the selective partitioning of ferrofluid in an ATPS of polyethylene glycol-polypropylene glycol-polyethylene glycol triblock copolymer (PEG-PPG-PEG) and dextran (DEX), to achieve diamagnetic manipulation of water-in-water droplets. A cell-triggered Rayleigh-Plateau instability in the dispersed phase thread results in a size distinction between the cell-encapsulating and empty droplets, enabling diamagnetic separation and sorting of the cell-encapsulating droplets from empty droplets. This is a simple and biocompatible all-aqueous platform for single-cell encapsulation and droplet manipulation, with applications in single-cell analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Navi
- Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.
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14
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Girault M, Beneyton T, Del Amo Y, Baret JC. Microfluidic technology for plankton research. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2018; 55:134-150. [PMID: 30326407 PMCID: PMC6378650 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2018.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Revised: 09/19/2018] [Accepted: 09/20/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Plankton produces numerous chemical compounds used in cosmetics and functional foods. They also play a key role in the carbon budget on the Earth. In a context of global change, it becomes important to understand the physiological response of these microorganisms to changing environmental conditions. Their adaptations and the response to specific environmental conditions are often restricted to a few active cells or individuals in large populations. Using analytical capabilities at the subnanoliter scale, microfluidic technology has also demonstrated a high potential in biological assays. Here, we review recent advances in microfluidic technologies to overcome the current challenges in high content analysis both at population and the single cell level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Girault
- Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5031, Université de Bordeaux, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 33600 Pessac, France
| | - Thomas Beneyton
- Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5031, Université de Bordeaux, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 33600 Pessac, France
| | - Yolanda Del Amo
- Université de Bordeaux - OASU, UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC (Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux), Station Marine d'Arcachon, 33120 Arcachon, France
| | - Jean-Christophe Baret
- Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5031, Université de Bordeaux, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 33600 Pessac, France.
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15
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Alorabi AQ, Tarn MD, Gómez-Pastora J, Bringas E, Ortiz I, Paunov VN, Pamme N. On-chip polyelectrolyte coating onto magnetic droplets - towards continuous flow assembly of drug delivery capsules. LAB ON A CHIP 2017; 17:3785-3795. [PMID: 28991297 DOI: 10.1039/c7lc00918f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Polyelectrolyte (PE) microcapsules for drug delivery are typically fabricated via layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition of PE layers of alternating charge on sacrificial template microparticles, which usually requires multiple incubation and washing steps that render the process repetitive and time-consuming. Here, ferrofluid droplets were explored for this purpose as an elegant alternative of templates that can be easily manipulated via an external magnetic field, and require only a simple microfluidic chip design and setup. Glass microfluidic devices featuring T-junctions or flow focusing junctions for the generation of oil-based ferrofluid droplets in an aqueous continuous phase were investigated. Droplet size was controlled by the microfluidic channel dimensions as well as the flow rates of the ferrofluid and aqueous phases. The generated droplets were stabilised by a surface active polymer, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and then guided into a chamber featuring alternating, co-laminar PE solutions and wash streams, and deflected across them by means of an external permanent magnet. The extent of droplet deflection was tailored by the flow rates, the concentration of magnetic nanoparticles in the droplets, and the magnetic field strength. PVP-coated ferrofluid droplets were deflected through solutions of polyelectrolyte and washing streams using several iterations of multilaminar flow designs. This culminated in an innovative "Snakes-and-Ladders" inspired microfluidic chip design that overcame various issues of the previous iterations for the deposition of layers of anionic poly(sodium-4-styrene sulfonate) (PSS) and cationic poly(fluorescein isothiocyanate allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH-FITC) onto the droplets. The presented method demonstrates a simple and rapid process for PE layer deposition in <30 seconds, and opens the way towards rapid layer-by-layer assembly of PE microcapsules for drug delivery applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Q Alorabi
- School of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK.
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Magnetophoretic sorting of microdroplets with different microalgal cell densities for rapid isolation of fast growing strains. Sci Rep 2017; 7:10390. [PMID: 28871196 PMCID: PMC5583291 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10764-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2017] [Accepted: 08/14/2017] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Microalgae - unicellular photosynthetic organisms - have received increasing attention for their ability to biologically convert CO2 into valuable products. The commercial use of microalgae requires screening strains to improve the biomass productivity to achieve a high-throughput. Here, we developed a microfluidic method that uses a magnetic field to separate the microdroplets containing different concentrations of microalgal cells. The separation efficiency is maximized using the following parameters that influence the amount of lateral displacement of the microdroplets: magnetic nanoparticle concentration, flow rate of droplets, x- and y-axis location of the magnet, and diameter of the droplets. Consequently, 91.90% of empty, 87.12% of low-, and 90.66% of high-density droplets could be separated into different outlets through simple manipulation of the magnetic field in the microfluidic device. These results indicate that cell density-based separation of microdroplets using a magnetic force can provide a promising platform to isolate microalgal species with a high growth performance.
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Park J, Jung JH, Destgeer G, Ahmed H, Park K, Sung HJ. Acoustothermal tweezer for droplet sorting in a disposable microfluidic chip. LAB ON A CHIP 2017; 17:1031-1040. [PMID: 28243644 DOI: 10.1039/c6lc01405d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Precise control over droplet position within a microchannel is fundamental to droplet microfluidic applications. This article proposes acoustothermal tweezer for the control of droplet position, which is based on thermocapillary droplet migration actuated by acoustothermal heating. The proposed system comprises an acoustothermal heater, which is composed of a slanted finger interdigital transducer patterned on a piezoelectric substrate and a thin PDMS membrane, and a PDMS microchannel. In the proposed system, droplets moving in a droplet microfluidic chip experience spatiotemporally varying thermal stimuli produced by acoustothermal heating and thus migrate laterally. In comparison to previous methods for droplet sorting, the acoustothermal tweezer offers significant advantages: first, the droplet position can be manipulated in two opposite directions, which enables bidirectional droplet sorting to one of three outlets downstream; second, precise control over the droplet position as well as improved droplet lateral displacement on the order of hundreds of micrometers can be achieved in a deterministic manner, thereby enabling multichannel droplet sorting; third, the PDMS microfluidic chip is disposable and thus can be easily replaced since it is attached to the substrate by reversible bonding, which allows the acoustothermal heater to be reused. Given these advantages, the proposed droplet sorting system is a promising droplet microfluidic lab-on-a-chip platform for tunable, on-demand droplet position control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinsoo Park
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
| | - Jin Ho Jung
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
| | - Ghulam Destgeer
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
| | - Husnain Ahmed
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
| | - Kwangseok Park
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
| | - Hyung Jin Sung
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
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18
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Xi HD, Zheng H, Guo W, Gañán-Calvo AM, Ai Y, Tsao CW, Zhou J, Li W, Huang Y, Nguyen NT, Tan SH. Active droplet sorting in microfluidics: a review. LAB ON A CHIP 2017; 17:751-771. [PMID: 28197601 DOI: 10.1039/c6lc01435f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 174] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The ability to manipulate and sort droplets is a fundamental issue in droplet-based microfluidics. Various lab-on-a-chip applications can only be realized if droplets are systematically categorized and sorted. These micron-sized droplets act as ideal reactors which compartmentalize different biological and chemical reagents. Array processing of these droplets hinges on the competence of the sorting and integration into the fluidic system. Recent technological advances only allow droplets to be actively sorted at the rate of kilohertz or less. In this review, we present state-of-the-art technologies which are implemented to efficiently sort droplets. We classify the concepts according to the type of energy implemented into the system. We also discuss various key issues and provide insights into various systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heng-Dong Xi
- School of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Rd., Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Hao Zheng
- School of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Rd., Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Wei Guo
- School of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Rd., Xi'an, Shaanxi, China and Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia.
| | - Alfonso M Gañán-Calvo
- Depto. de Ingeniería Aeroespacial y Mecánica de Fluidos, Universidad de Sevilla, E-41092 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Ye Ai
- Pillar of Engineering Product Development, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore
| | - Chia-Wen Tsao
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Rd, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - Jun Zhou
- School of Information and Communication Technology, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
| | - Weihua Li
- School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Yanyi Huang
- Biodynamic Optical Imaging Center, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Nam-Trung Nguyen
- Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia.
| | - Say Hwa Tan
- Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia.
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Huang L, Tu L, Zeng X, Mi L, Li X, Wang W. Study of a Microfluidic Chip Integrating Single Cell Trap and 3D Stable Rotation Manipulation. MICROMACHINES 2016; 7:E141. [PMID: 30404313 PMCID: PMC6190350 DOI: 10.3390/mi7080141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2016] [Revised: 08/01/2016] [Accepted: 08/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Single cell manipulation technology has been widely applied in biological fields, such as cell injection/enucleation, cell physiological measurement, and cell imaging. Recently, a biochip platform with a novel configuration of electrodes for cell 3D rotation has been successfully developed by generating rotating electric fields. However, the rotation platform still has two major shortcomings that need to be improved. The primary problem is that there is no on-chip module to facilitate the placement of a single cell into the rotation chamber, which causes very low efficiency in experiment to manually pipette single 10-micron-scale cells into rotation position. Secondly, the cell in the chamber may suffer from unstable rotation, which includes gravity-induced sinking down to the chamber bottom or electric-force-induced on-plane movement. To solve the two problems, in this paper we propose a new microfluidic chip with manipulation capabilities of single cell trap and single cell 3D stable rotation, both on one chip. The new microfluidic chip consists of two parts. The top capture part is based on the least flow resistance principle and is used to capture a single cell and to transport it to the rotation chamber. The bottom rotation part is based on dielectrophoresis (DEP) and is used to 3D rotate the single cell in the rotation chamber with enhanced stability. The two parts are aligned and bonded together to form closed channels for microfluidic handling. Using COMSOL simulation and preliminary experiments, we have verified, in principle, the concept of on-chip single cell traps and 3D stable rotation, and identified key parameters for chip structures, microfluidic handling, and electrode configurations. The work has laid a solid foundation for on-going chip fabrication and experiment validation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instrument, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
| | - Long Tu
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instrument, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
| | - Xueyong Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instrument, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
| | - Lu Mi
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instrument, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
| | - Xuzhou Li
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instrument, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
| | - Wenhui Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instrument, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
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