In vitro test methods for evaluating high molecular weight polyethylene oxide polymer induced hemolytic and thrombotic potential

To combat opioid abuse, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a comprehensive action plan to address opioid addiction, abuse, and overdose that included increasing the prevalence of abuse-deterrent formulations (ADFs) in opioid tablets. Polyethylene oxide (PEO) has been widely used as an excipient to deter abuse via nasal insufflation. However, changes in abuse patterns have led to unexpected shifts in abuse from the nasal route to intravenous injection. Case reports identify adverse effects similar to thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) syndrome following the intravenous (IV) abuse of opioids containing PEO excipient. Increased risk of IV opioid ADF abuse compared to clinical benefit of the drug led to the removal of one opioid product from the market in 2017. Because many generic drugs containing PEO are still in development, there is interest in assessing safety consistent with generic drug regulation and unintended uses. Currently, there are no guidelines or in vitro assessment tools to characterize the safety of PEO excipients taken via intravenous injection. To create a more robust excipient safety evaluation tool and to study the mechanistic basis of HMW PEO-induced TMA, a dynamic in vitro test system involving blood flow through a needle model has been developed.

A Systematic Analysis of Recent Technology Trends of Microfluidic Medical Devices in the United States

In recent years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has seen an increase in microfluidic medical device submissions, likely stemming from recent advancements in microfluidic technologies. This recent trend has only been enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic, as microfluidic-based test kits have been used for diagnosis. To better understand the implications of this emerging technology, device submissions to the FDA from 2015 to 2021 containing microfluidic technologies have been systematically reviewed to identify trends in microfluidic medical applications, performance tests, standards used, fabrication techniques, materials, and flow systems. More than 80% of devices with microfluidic platforms were found to be diagnostic in nature, with lateral flow systems accounting for about 35% of all identified microfluidic devices. A targeted analysis of over 40,000 adverse event reports linked to microfluidic technologies revealed that flow, operation, and data output related failures are the most common failure modes for these device types. Lastly, this paper highlights key considerations for developing new protocols for various microfluidic applications that use certain analytes (e.g., blood, urine, nasal-pharyngeal swab), materials, flow, and detection mechanisms. We anticipate that these considerations would help facilitate innovation in microfluidic-based medical devices.

Overcoming technological barriers in microfluidics: Leakage testing

The miniaturization of laboratory procedures for Lab-on-Chip (LoC) devices and translation to various platforms such as single cell analysis or Organ-on-Chip (OoC) systems are revolutionizing the life sciences and biomedical fields. As a result, microfluidics is becoming a viable technology for improving the quality and sensitivity of critical processes. Yet, standard test methods have not yet been established to validate basic manufacturing steps, performance, and safety of microfluidic devices. The successful development and widespread use of microfluidic technologies are greatly dependent on the community’s success in establishing widely supported test protocols. A key area that requires consensus guidelines is leakage testing. There are unique challenges in preventing and detecting leaks in microfluidic systems because of their small dimensions, high surface-area to volume ratios, low flow rates, limited volumes, and relatively high-pressure differentials over short distances. Also, microfluidic devices often employ heterogenous components, including unique connectors and fluid-contacting materials, which potentially make them more susceptible to mechanical integrity failures. The differences between microfluidic systems and traditional macroscale technologies can exacerbate the impact of a leak on the performance and safety on the microscale. To support the microfluidics community efforts in product development and commercialization, it is critical to identify common aspects of leakage in microfluidic devices and standardize the corresponding safety and performance metrics. There is a need for quantitative metrics to provide quality assurance during or after the manufacturing process. It is also necessary to implement application-specific test methods to effectively characterize leakage in microfluidic systems. In this review, different methods for assessing microfluidics leaks, the benefits of using different test media and materials, and the utility of leakage testing throughout the product life cycle are discussed. Current leakage testing protocols and standard test methods that can be leveraged for characterizing leaks in microfluidic devices and potential classification strategies are also discussed. We hope that this review article will stimulate more discussions around the development of gas and liquid leakage test standards in academia and industry to facilitate device commercialization in the emerging field of microfluidics.

Comprehensive characterization of protective face coverings made from household fabrics

BACKGROUND

Face coverings constitute an important strategy for containing pandemics, such as COVID-19. Infection from airborne respiratory viruses including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can occur in at least three modes; tiny and/or dried aerosols (typically < 1.0 μm) generated through multiple mechanisms including talking, breathing, singing, large droplets (> 0.5 μm) generated during coughing and sneezing, and macro drops transmitted via fomites. While there is a growing number of studies looking at the performance of household materials against some of these situations, to date, there has not been any systematic characterization of household materials against all three modes.

METHODS

A three-step methodology was developed and used to characterize the performance of 21 different household materials with various material compositions (e.g. cotton, polyester, polypropylene, cellulose and blends) using submicron sodium chloride aerosols, water droplets, and mucous mimicking macro droplets over an aerosol-droplet size range of ~ 20 nm to 0.6 cm.

RESULTS

Except for one thousand-thread-count cotton, most single-layered materials had filtration efficiencies < 20% for sub-micron solid aerosols. However, several of these materials stopped > 80% of larger droplets, even at sneeze-velocities of up to 1700 cm/s. Three or four layers of the same material, or combination materials, would be required to stop macro droplets from permeating out or into the face covering. Such materials can also be boiled for reuse.

CONCLUSION

Four layers of loosely knit or woven fabrics independent of the composition (e.g. cotton, polyester, nylon or blends) are likely to be effective source controls. One layer of tightly woven fabrics combined with multiple layers of loosely knit or woven fabrics in addition to being source controls can have sub-micron filtration efficiencies > 40% and may offer some protection to the wearer. However, the pressure drop across such fabrics can be high (> 100 Pa).

Assessment of Flow through Microchannels for Inertia-Based Sorting: Steps toward Microfluidic Medical Devices

The development of new standardized test methods would allow for the consistent evaluation of microfluidic medical devices and enable high-quality products to reach the market faster. A comprehensive flow characterization study was conducted to identify regulatory knowledge gaps using a generic inertia-based spiral channel model for particle sorting and facilitate standards development in the microfluidics community. Testing was performed using 2-20 µm rigid particles to represent blood elements and flow rates of 200-5000 µL/min to assess the effects of flow-related factors on overall system performance. Two channel designs were studied to determine the variability associated with using the same microchannel multiple times (coefficient of variation (CV) of 27% for Design 1 and 18% for Design 2, respectively). The impact of commonly occurring failure modes on device performance was also investigated by simulating progressive and complete channel outlet blockages. The pressure increased by 10-250% of the normal channel pressure depending on the extent of the blockage. Lastly, two common data analysis approaches were compared-imaging and particle counting. Both approaches were similar in terms of their sensitivity and consistency. Continued research is needed to develop standardized test methods for microfluidic systems, which will improve medical device performance testing and drive innovation in the biomedical field.

Automated "pick and transfer" of targeted cells using dielectrophoresis

Selective manipulation of single cells is an important step in sample preparation for biological analysis. A highly specific and automated device is desired for such an operation. An ideal device would be able to selectively pick several single cells in parallel from a heterogeneous population and transfer those to designated sites for further analysis without human intervention. The robotic manipulator developed here provides the basis for development of such a device. The device in this work is designed to selectively pick cells based on their inherent properties using dielectrophoresis (DEP) and automatically transfer and release those at a transfer site. Here we provide proof of concept of such a device and study the effect of different parameters on its operation. Successful experiments were conducted to separate Candida cells from a mixture with 10 μm latex particles and a viability assay was performed for separation of viable rat adipose stem cells (RASCs) from non-viable ones. The robotic DEP device was further used to pick and transfer single RASCs. This work also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of our current setup and illustrates the future steps required to improve the performance of this robotic DEP technology.

Nondimensional Streaming Dielectrophoresis Number for a System of Continuous Particle Separation

Cell sorting methods are required in numerous healthcare assays. Although flow cytometry and magnetically actuated sorting are widespread techniques for cell sorting, there is intense research on label-free techniques to reduce the cost and complexity of the process. Among label-free techniques, dielectrophoresis (DEP) offers the capability to separate cells not only on the basis of size but also on their membrane capacitance. This is important because it enables cell discrimination on the basis of specific traits such as viability, identity, fate, and age. StreamingDEP refers to the continuous sorting of cells thanks to the generation of streams of targeted particles by equilibrating the drag and DEP forces acting on targeted particles. In this work, we provide an analytical expression for a streamingDEP number toward enabling the a priori design of DEP devices to agglomerate targeted particles into streams. The nondimensional streamingDEP number (SDN) obtained in this analysis is applied to experiments with 1 μm polystyrene particles and Candida cells. On the basis of these experiments, three characteristic zones are mapped to different values of the SDN: (1) physical capture thanks to DEP for 0 < SDN < 0.6; (2) streaming due to DEP for 0.6 < SDN < 1; (3) elution without experiencing DEP for SDN > 1.

Enrichment of diluted cell populations from large sample volumes using 3D carbon-electrode dielectrophoresis

Here, we report on an enrichment protocol using carbon electrode dielectrophoresis to isolate and purify a targeted cell population from sample volumes up to 4 ml. We aim at trapping, washing, and recovering an enriched cell fraction that will facilitate downstream analysis. We used an increasingly diluted sample of yeast, 10(6)-10(2) cells/ml, to demonstrate the isolation and enrichment of few cells at increasing flow rates. A maximum average enrichment of 154.2 ± 23.7 times was achieved when the sample flow rate was 10 μl/min and yeast cells were suspended in low electrically conductive media that maximizes dielectrophoresis trapping. A COMSOL Multiphysics model allowed for the comparison between experimental and simulation results. Discussion is conducted on the discrepancies between such results and how the model can be further improved.