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Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology 2020
Topics: Animals; Biocompatible Materials; Humans; Microtechnology; Nanotechnology; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Technology, Pharmaceutical
PubMed: 33040732
DOI: 10.2174/221173850804200929092606 -
Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology 2020
Topics: Biocompatible Materials; Drug Carriers; Drug Compounding; Microtechnology; Nanotechnology; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Technology, Pharmaceutical
PubMed: 33241778
DOI: 10.2174/221173850805201102154354 -
Trends in Biotechnology Jan 2022Billions of years of Darwinian evolution has led to the emergence of highly sophisticated and diverse life forms on Earth. Inspired by natural evolution, similar... (Review)
Review
Billions of years of Darwinian evolution has led to the emergence of highly sophisticated and diverse life forms on Earth. Inspired by natural evolution, similar principles have been adopted in laboratory evolution for the fast optimization of genes and proteins for specific applications. In this review, we highlight state-of-the-art laboratory evolution strategies for protein engineering, with a special emphasis on in vitro strategies. We further describe how recent progress in microfluidic technology has allowed the generation and manipulation of artificial compartments for high-throughput laboratory evolution experiments. Expectations for the future are high: we foresee a revolution on-a-chip.
Topics: Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; Microfluidics; Protein Engineering
PubMed: 34049723
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.04.009 -
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton,... 2022Thermoplastic polymers are besides glass the material of choice for the industrialization of microfluidic and organ-on-chip applications. In most cases, however, such...
Thermoplastic polymers are besides glass the material of choice for the industrialization of microfluidic and organ-on-chip applications. In most cases, however, such devices are developed on the basis standard lithographic clean room technologies and subsequent casting into PDMS. This results in comparably fast progress in the development of functional designs but important aspects with respect to later industrialization are thereby largely neglected. For that reason, it is advisable to switch at a rather early stage of development from PDMS to a thermoplastic polymer such as, for instance, cyclo-olefin (co)polymer (COC, COP). By making this step, additional challenges related to the anticipated manufacturing process can be identified, which is particularly important when aiming at industrialization. We present herein a standard process sequence for mastering of microfluidic devices by two-photon polymerization and final transfer into COC films by hot embossing. In addition, we describe the laser micromanufacturing of polymeric mold inserts and subsequent prototype injection molding of small series of COP samples.
Topics: Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; Microfluidics; Microtechnology; Polymers
PubMed: 34520005
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1693-2_3 -
Chemical Reviews Apr 2022
Topics: Microfluidics
PubMed: 35414183
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.2c00052 -
Science Robotics Mar 2021This special issue showcases developments in microactuation, microparticle control, and micro/nanorobots for biomedicine.
This special issue showcases developments in microactuation, microparticle control, and micro/nanorobots for biomedicine.
Topics: Animals; Drug Delivery Systems; Humans; Microtechnology; Nanotechnology; Robotics; Smart Materials
PubMed: 34043559
DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.abh3168 -
Small (Weinheim An Der Bergstrasse,... Mar 2020Motivated by the increasing demand of wearable and soft electronics, liquid metal (LM)-based microfluidics has been subjected to tremendous development in the past... (Review)
Review
Motivated by the increasing demand of wearable and soft electronics, liquid metal (LM)-based microfluidics has been subjected to tremendous development in the past decade, especially in electronics, robotics, and related fields, due to the unique advantages of LMs that combines the conductivity and deformability all-in-one. LMs can be integrated as the core component into microfluidic systems in the form of either droplets/marbles or composites embedded by polymer materials with isotropic and anisotropic distribution. The LM microfluidic systems are found to have broad applications in deformable antennas, soft diodes, biomedical sensing chips, transient circuits, mechanically adaptive materials, etc. Herein, the recent progress in the development of LM-based microfluidics and their potential applications are summarized. The current challenges toward industrial applications and future research orientation of this field are also summarized and discussed.
Topics: Electronics; Metals; Microfluidics; Monitoring, Physiologic; Robotics; Wearable Electronic Devices
PubMed: 31573755
DOI: 10.1002/smll.201903841 -
Biofabrication Jan 2022Droplet-based microfluidic systems have been employed to manipulate discrete fluid volumes with immiscible phases. Creating the fluid droplets at microscale has led to a... (Review)
Review
Droplet-based microfluidic systems have been employed to manipulate discrete fluid volumes with immiscible phases. Creating the fluid droplets at microscale has led to a paradigm shift in mixing, sorting, encapsulation, sensing, and designing high throughput devices for biomedical applications. Droplet microfluidics has opened many opportunities in microparticle synthesis, molecular detection, diagnostics, drug delivery, and cell biology. In the present review, we first introduce standard methods for droplet generation (i.e. passive and active methods) and discuss the latest examples of emulsification and particle synthesis approaches enabled by microfluidic platforms. Then, the applications of droplet-based microfluidics in different biomedical applications are detailed. Finally, a general overview of the latest trends along with the perspectives and future potentials in the field are provided.
Topics: Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; Microfluidics
PubMed: 34781274
DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/ac39a9 -
Biosensors Aug 2023Biosensors are a promising tool for a wide variety of target analyte detection and enable point-of-care diagnostics with reduced volume and space [...].
Biosensors are a promising tool for a wide variety of target analyte detection and enable point-of-care diagnostics with reduced volume and space [...].
Topics: Microfluidics; Point-of-Care Testing
PubMed: 37754077
DOI: 10.3390/bios13090843 -
Chemical Reviews Apr 2022Electrochemical energy conversion is an important supplement for storage and on-demand use of renewable energy. In this regard, microfluidics offers prospects to raise... (Review)
Review
Electrochemical energy conversion is an important supplement for storage and on-demand use of renewable energy. In this regard, microfluidics offers prospects to raise the efficiency and rate of electrochemical energy conversion through enhanced mass transport, flexible cell design, and ability to eliminate the physical ion-exchange membrane, an essential yet costly element in conventional electrochemical cells. Since the 2002 invention of the microfluidic fuel cell, the research field of has expanded into a great variety of cell designs, fabrication techniques, and device functions with a wide range of utility and applications. The present review aims to comprehensively synthesize the best practices in this field over the past 20 years. The underlying fundamentals and research methods are first summarized, followed by a complete assessment of all research contributions wherein microfluidics was proactively utilized to facilitate energy conversion in conjunction with electrochemical cells, such as fuel cells, flow batteries, electrolysis cells, hybrid cells, and photoelectrochemical cells. Moreover, emerging technologies and analytical tools enabled by microfluidics are also discussed. Lastly, opportunities for future research directions and technology advances are proposed.
Topics: Electric Power Supplies; Microfluidics; Technology
PubMed: 34995463
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00499