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Lab on a Chip Dec 2022High-throughput phenotypic cell sorting is critical to the development of cell-based therapies and cell screening discovery platforms. However, current cytometry...
High-throughput phenotypic cell sorting is critical to the development of cell-based therapies and cell screening discovery platforms. However, current cytometry platforms are limited by throughput, number of fractionated populations that can be isolated, cell viability, and cost. We present an ultrathroughput microfluidic cell sorter capable of processing hundreds of millions of live cells per hour per device based on protein expression. This device, a next-generation microfluidic cell sorter (NG-MICS), combines multiple technologies, including 3D printing, reversible clamp sealing, and superhydrophobic treatments to create a reusable and user-friendly platform ready for deployment. The utility of such a platform is demonstrated through the rapid isolation of mature natural killer cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, for use in CAR-NK therapies at clinically-relevant scale.
Topics: Leukocytes, Mononuclear; Microfluidics
PubMed: 36382608
DOI: 10.1039/d2lc00798c -
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection... 2022Viral infections are a significant public health problem, primarily due to their high transmission rate, various pathological manifestations, ranging from mild to severe... (Review)
Review
Viral infections are a significant public health problem, primarily due to their high transmission rate, various pathological manifestations, ranging from mild to severe symptoms and subclinical onset. Laboratory diagnostic tests for infectious diseases, with a short enough turnaround time, are promising tools to improve patient care, antiviral therapeutic decisions, and infection prevention. Numerous microbiological molecular and serological diagnostic testing devices have been developed and authorised as benchtop systems, and only a few as rapid miniaturised, fully automated, portable digital platforms. Their successful implementation in virology relies on their performance and impact on patient management. This review describes the current progress and perspectives in developing micro- and nanotechnology-based solutions for rapidly detecting human viral respiratory infectious diseases. It provides a nonexhaustive overview of currently commercially available and under-study diagnostic testing methods and discusses the sampling and viral genetic trends as preanalytical components influencing the results. We describe the clinical performance of tests, focusing on alternatives such as microfluidics-, biosensors-, Internet-of-Things (IoT)-based devices for rapid and accurate viral loads and immunological responses detection. The conclusions highlight the potential impact of the newly developed devices on laboratory diagnostic and clinical outcomes.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Communicable Diseases; Humans; Microfluidics; Respiratory Tract Infections; Serologic Tests
PubMed: 35252028
DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.807253 -
Current Drug Delivery 2021New technologies are currently investigated to improve the quality of foods by enhancing their nutritional value, freshness, safety, and shelf-life, as well as by... (Review)
Review
New technologies are currently investigated to improve the quality of foods by enhancing their nutritional value, freshness, safety, and shelf-life, as well as by improving their tastes, flavors and textures. Moreover, new technological approaches are being explored, in this field, to address nutritional and metabolism-related diseases (i.e., obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases), to improve targeted nutrition, in particular for specific lifestyles and elderly population, and to maintain the sustainability of food production. A number of new processes and materials, derived from micro- and nano-technology, have been used to provide answers to many of these needs and offer the possibility to control and manipulate properties of foods and their ingredients at the molecular level. The present review focuses on the importance of micro- and nano-technology in the food and nutritional sector and, in particular, provides an overview of the micro- and nano-materials used for the administration of nutritional constituents essential to maintain and improve health, as well as to prevent the development and complications of diseases.
Topics: Food Ingredients; Food Technology; Microtechnology; Nanotechnology
PubMed: 33243120
DOI: 10.2174/1567201817999201125205025 -
Lab on a Chip Jun 2023Optofluidic laser (OFL) technology, as an emerging technology combining microfluidics and laser technology, offers many unique advantages in sensing applications and has... (Review)
Review
Optofluidic laser (OFL) technology, as an emerging technology combining microfluidics and laser technology, offers many unique advantages in sensing applications and has become a research hotspot for highly-sensitive intracavity biochemical analysis. Biochemical sensors based on OFLs can detect changes in biochemical parameters by using significant changes in laser output characteristics, so as to achieve high detection sensitivity. Here, we provide an overview of OFLs with a focus on their constructions, the design of OFL-based biochemical sensors, and their applications in biochemical analysis. Firstly, the three elements of an OFL, including the optical microcavity, gain medium, and pump source, are described systematically. After explaining the basic principles and characterization of OFLs for biochemical sensing, the current research progress of OFL-based biochemical sensors is summarized and analyzed according to the combination of OFLs with different assay techniques. This is followed by a discussion of the research on OFLs at the level of biological macromolecules, cells, and tissues. Finally, in view of the applications of OFLs in the field of biochemical sensing, the current challenges and future development directions are briefly discussed.
Topics: Lasers; Microfluidics
PubMed: 37293879
DOI: 10.1039/d3lc00236e -
Biotechnology Advances 2023Bioprocesses are scaled up for the production of large product quantities. With larger fermenter volumes, mixing becomes increasingly inefficient and environmental... (Review)
Review
Bioprocesses are scaled up for the production of large product quantities. With larger fermenter volumes, mixing becomes increasingly inefficient and environmental gradients get more prominent than in smaller scales. Environmental gradients have an impact on the microorganism's metabolism, which makes the prediction of large-scale performance difficult and can lead to scale-up failure. A promising approach for improved understanding and estimation of dynamics of microbial populations in large-scale bioprocesses is the analysis of microbial lifelines. The lifeline of a microbe in a bioprocess is the experience of environmental gradients from a cell's perspective, which can be described as a time series of position, environment and intracellular condition. Currently, lifelines are predominantly determined using models with computational fluid dynamics, but new technical developments in flow-following sensor particles and microfluidic single-cell cultivation open the door to a more interdisciplinary concept. We critically review the current concepts and challenges in lifeline determination and application of lifeline analysis, as well as strategies for the integration of these techniques into bioprocess development. Lifelines can contribute to a successful scale-up by guiding scale-down experiments and identifying strain engineering targets or bioreactor optimisations.
Topics: Bioreactors; Microfluidics
PubMed: 36464144
DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2022.108071 -
Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering Jun 2022An integrative approach based on microfluidic design and stem cell biology enables capture of the spatial-temporal environmental evolution underpinning epigenetic... (Review)
Review
An integrative approach based on microfluidic design and stem cell biology enables capture of the spatial-temporal environmental evolution underpinning epigenetic remodeling and the morphogenetic process. We examine the body of literature that encompasses microfluidic applications where human induced pluripotent stem cells are derived starting from human somatic cells and where human pluripotent stem cells are differentiated into different cell types. We focus on recent studies where the intrinsic features of microfluidics have been exploited to control the reprogramming and differentiation trajectory at the microscale, including the capability of manipulating the fluid velocity field, mass transport regime, and controllable composition within micro- to nanoliter volumes in space and time. We also discuss studies of emerging microfluidic technologies and applications. Finally, we critically discuss perspectives and challenges in the field and how these could be instrumental for bringing about significant biological advances in the field of stem cell engineering.
Topics: Cell Differentiation; Humans; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; Microfluidics; Pluripotent Stem Cells
PubMed: 35378044
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-bioeng-092021-042744 -
Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) Mar 2021Technology has long been used to track player movements in team sports, with initial tracking via manual coding of video footage. Since then, wearable microtechnology in...
BACKGROUND
Technology has long been used to track player movements in team sports, with initial tracking via manual coding of video footage. Since then, wearable microtechnology in the form of global and local positioning systems has provided a less labour-intensive way of monitoring movements. As such, there has been a proliferation in research pertaining to these devices.
OBJECTIVE
A systematic review of studies that investigate the validity and/or reliability of wearable microtechnology to quantify movement and specific actions common to intermittent team sports.
METHODS
A systematic search of CINAHL, MEDLINE, and SPORTDiscus was performed; studies included must have been (1) original research investigations; (2) full-text articles written in English; (3) published in a peer-reviewed academic journal; and (4) assessed the validity and/or reliability of wearable microtechnology to quantify movements or specific actions common to intermittent team sports.
RESULTS
A total of 384 studies were retrieved and 187 were duplicates. The titles and abstracts of 197 studies were screened and the full texts of 88 manuscripts were assessed. A total of 62 studies met the inclusion criteria. Additional 10 studies, identified via reference list assessment, were included. Therefore, a total of 72 studies were included in this review.
CONCLUSION
There are many studies investigating the validity and reliability of wearable microtechnology to track movement and detect sport-specific actions. It is evident that for the majority of metrics, validity and reliability are multi-factorial, in that it is dependent upon a wide variety of factors including wearable technology brand and model, sampling rate, type of movement performed (e.g., straight line, change of direction) and intensity of movement (e.g., walk, sprint). Practitioners should be mindful of the accuracy and repeatability of the devices they are using when making decisions on player training loads.
Topics: Humans; Microtechnology; Reproducibility of Results; Sports; Team Sports; Wearable Electronic Devices
PubMed: 33368031
DOI: 10.1007/s40279-020-01399-1 -
Journal of Materials Chemistry. B Sep 2020Superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces are prevalent in nature and have received tremendous attention due to their importance in both fundamental research and... (Review)
Review
Superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces are prevalent in nature and have received tremendous attention due to their importance in both fundamental research and practical applications. With the high interdisciplinary research and great development of microfabrication techniques, artificial wettable-nonwettable micropatterns inspired by the water-collection behavior of desert beetles have been successfully fabricated. A combination of the two extreme states of superhydrophilicity and superhydrophobicity on the same surface precisely, wettable-nonwettable micropatterns possess unique functionalities, such as controllable superwetting, anisotropic wetting, oriented adhesion, and other properties. In this review, we briefly describe the methods for fabricating wettable-nonwettable patterns, including self-assembly, electrodeposition, inkjet printing, and photolithography. We also highlight some of the emerging applications such as water collection, controllable bioadhesion, cell arrays, microreactors, printing techniques, and biosensors combined with various detection methods. Finally, the current challenges and prospects of this renascent and rapidly developing field are proposed and discussed.
Topics: Bacterial Adhesion; Biomimetic Materials; Biosensing Techniques; Microtechnology; Printing; Tissue Array Analysis; Wettability
PubMed: 32785360
DOI: 10.1039/d0tb01382j -
Advances in Colloid and Interface... Oct 2022In recent years, the rapid development of microfluidic technology has caused a revolutionary impact in the fields of chemistry, medicine, and life sciences. Also,... (Review)
Review
In recent years, the rapid development of microfluidic technology has caused a revolutionary impact in the fields of chemistry, medicine, and life sciences. Also, droplet control is one of the most important technologies in the field of microfluidics. In order to achieve different degrees of droplet transport, the dynamic balance of the competing processes of droplet driving force and fluid resistance should be controlled to achieve good selectivity of droplet transport. Here, we focus on the principles of droplet transport in microfluidic devices, including the driving forces for droplet transport in fluids and the effects of transport properties on droplet transport. After that, the effects of external fields on the directional transport of droplets and the advantages and disadvantages of each external field in droplet transport are discussed in detail. Finally, the applications and challenges of droplet microfluidics in chemical, biomedical, and mechanical systems are comprehensively introduced.
Topics: Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; Microfluidics
PubMed: 36113310
DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2022.102770 -
Journal of Materials Chemistry. B Aug 2020With recent developments in the field of autonomous motion for artificial systems, many researchers are focusing on their biomedical application for active and targeted... (Review)
Review
With recent developments in the field of autonomous motion for artificial systems, many researchers are focusing on their biomedical application for active and targeted delivery. In this context, enzyme powered motors are at the forefront since they can utilize physiologically relevant fuels as their substrate and carry out catalytic reactions to power motion under in vivo conditions. This review focuses on the design and fabrication of enzyme powered motors together with their propulsion mechanism by using fuels present in biological environments. In addition, the recent advances in the field of enzyme powered motors for biomedical applications have been discussed together with the parameters that need to be considered for designing such systems. We believe that this review will provide insights and better understanding for the development of next generation biomedical technologies based on enzyme powered motors.
Topics: Biocatalysis; Biomedical Research; Enzymes; Microtechnology; Nanostructures; Nanotechnology
PubMed: 32785359
DOI: 10.1039/d0tb01245a