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Biofabrication Sep 2019Recent advances in bioprinting technologies have enabled rapid manufacturing of organ-on-chip models along with biomimetic tissue microarchitectures. Bioprinting... (Review)
Review
Recent advances in bioprinting technologies have enabled rapid manufacturing of organ-on-chip models along with biomimetic tissue microarchitectures. Bioprinting techniques can be used to integrate microfluidic channels and flow connections in organ-on-chip models. We review bioprinters in two categories of nozzle-based and optical-based methods, and then discuss their fabrication parameters such as resolution, replication fidelity, fabrication time, and cost for micro-tissue models and microfluidic applications. The use of bioprinters has shown successful replicates of functional engineered tissue models integrated within a desired microfluidic system, which facilitates the observation of metabolism or secretion of models and sophisticated control of a dynamic environment. This may provide a wider order of tissue engineering fabrication in mimicking physiological conditions for enhancing further applications such as drug development and pathological studies.
Topics: Animals; Bioprinting; Humans; Microtechnology; Optics and Photonics; Tissue Engineering
PubMed: 31170695
DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/ab2798 -
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 -
Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry... Jun 2023Biofilms are multicellular communities held together by a self-produced extracellular matrix and exhibit a set of properties that distinguish them from free-living... (Review)
Review
Biofilms are multicellular communities held together by a self-produced extracellular matrix and exhibit a set of properties that distinguish them from free-living bacteria. Biofilms are exposed to a variety of mechanical and chemical cues resulting from fluid motion and mass transport. Microfluidics provides the precise control of hydrodynamic and physicochemical microenvironments to study biofilms in general. In this review, we summarize the recent progress made in microfluidics-based biofilm research, including understanding the mechanism of bacterial adhesion and biofilm development, assessment of antifouling and antimicrobial properties, development of advanced in vitro infection models, and advancement in methods to characterize biofilms. Finally, we provide a perspective on the future direction of microfluidics-assisted biofilm research.
Topics: Microfluidics; Biofilms; Bacterial Adhesion; Cues; Extracellular Matrix
PubMed: 37314876
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-anchem-091522-103827 -
Chemical Reviews Aug 2022Isotachophoresis (ITP) is a versatile electrophoretic technique that can be used for sample preconcentration, separation, purification, and mixing, and to control and... (Review)
Review
Isotachophoresis (ITP) is a versatile electrophoretic technique that can be used for sample preconcentration, separation, purification, and mixing, and to control and accelerate chemical reactions. Although the basic technique is nearly a century old and widely used, there is a persistent need for an easily approachable, succinct, and rigorous review of ITP theory and analysis. This is important because the interest and adoption of the technique has grown over the last two decades, especially with its implementation in microfluidics and integration with on-chip chemical and biochemical assays. We here provide a review of ITP theory starting from physicochemical first-principles, including conservation of species, conservation of current, approximation of charge neutrality, pH equilibrium of weak electrolytes, and so-called regulating functions that govern transport dynamics, with a strong emphasis on steady and unsteady transport. We combine these generally applicable (to all types of ITP) theoretical discussions with applications of ITP in the field of microfluidic systems, particularly on-chip biochemical analyses. Our discussion includes principles that govern the ITP focusing of weak and strong electrolytes; ITP dynamics in peak and plateau modes; a review of simulation tools, experimental tools, and detection methods; applications of ITP for on-chip separations and trace analyte manipulation; and design considerations and challenges for microfluidic ITP systems. We conclude with remarks on possible future research directions. The intent of this review is to help make ITP analysis and design principles more accessible to the scientific and engineering communities and to provide a rigorous basis for the increased adoption of ITP in microfluidics.
Topics: Electrolytes; Isotachophoresis; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; Microfluidics
PubMed: 35732018
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00640 -
Mikrochimica Acta Nov 2022Electrode miniaturization has profoundly revolutionized the field of electrochemical sensing, opening up unprecedented opportunities for probing biological events with a... (Review)
Review
Electrode miniaturization has profoundly revolutionized the field of electrochemical sensing, opening up unprecedented opportunities for probing biological events with a high spatial and temporal resolution, integrating electrochemical systems with microfluidics, and designing arrays for multiplexed sensing. Several technological issues posed by the desire for downsizing have been addressed so far, leading to micrometric and nanometric sensing systems with different degrees of maturity. However, there is still an endless margin for researchers to improve current strategies and cope with demanding sensing fields, such as lab-on-a-chip devices and multi-array sensors, brain chemistry, and cell monitoring. In this review, we present current trends in the design of micro-/nano-electrochemical sensors and cutting-edge applications reported in the last 10 years. Micro- and nanosensors are divided into four categories depending on the transduction mechanism, e.g., amperometric, impedimetric, potentiometric, and transistor-based, to best guide the reader through the different detection strategies and highlight major advancements as well as still unaddressed demands in electrochemical sensing.
Topics: Electrodes; Microfluidics; Potentiometry; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices
PubMed: 36416992
DOI: 10.1007/s00604-022-05548-3 -
Biosensors Jan 2023Microfluidics refers to a technique for controlling and analyzing the fluids or micro-/nano-bioparticles in microscale channels or structures [...].
Microfluidics refers to a technique for controlling and analyzing the fluids or micro-/nano-bioparticles in microscale channels or structures [...].
Topics: Microfluidics
PubMed: 36831927
DOI: 10.3390/bios13020161 -
Journal of Nanobiotechnology Mar 2023The advancement of microfluidics has enabled numerous discoveries and technologies in life sciences. However, due to the lack of industry standards and configurability,... (Review)
Review
The advancement of microfluidics has enabled numerous discoveries and technologies in life sciences. However, due to the lack of industry standards and configurability, the design and fabrication of microfluidic devices require highly skilled technicians. The diversity of microfluidic devices discourages biologists and chemists from applying this technique in their laboratories. Modular microfluidics, which integrates the standardized microfluidic modules into a whole, complex platform, brings the capability of configurability to conventional microfluidics. The exciting features, including portability, on-site deployability, and high customization motivate us to review the state-of-the-art modular microfluidics and discuss future perspectives. In this review, we first introduce the working mechanisms of the basic microfluidic modules and evaluate their feasibility as modular microfluidic components. Next, we explain the connection approaches among these microfluidic modules, and summarize the advantages of modular microfluidics over integrated microfluidics in biological applications. Finally, we discuss the challenge and future perspectives of modular microfluidics.
Topics: Microfluidics; Biological Science Disciplines; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices
PubMed: 36906553
DOI: 10.1186/s12951-023-01846-x -
Biosensors Jul 2021Recent advances in microfluidics, microelectronics, and electrochemical sensing methods have steered the way for the development of novel and potential wearable... (Review)
Review
Recent advances in microfluidics, microelectronics, and electrochemical sensing methods have steered the way for the development of novel and potential wearable biosensors for healthcare monitoring. Wearable bioelectronics has received tremendous attention worldwide due to its great a potential for predictive medical modeling and allowing for personalized point-of-care-testing (POCT). They possess many appealing characteristics, for example, lightweight, flexibility, good stretchability, conformability, and low cost. These characteristics make wearable bioelectronics a promising platform for personalized devices. In this paper, we review recent progress in flexible and wearable sensors for non-invasive biomonitoring using sweat as the bio-fluid. Real-time and molecular-level monitoring of personal health states can be achieved with sweat-based or perspiration-based wearable biosensors. The suitability of sweat and its potential in healthcare monitoring, sweat extraction, and the challenges encountered in sweat-based analysis are summarized. The paper also discusses challenges that still hinder the full-fledged development of sweat-based wearables and presents the areas of future research.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Electrochemical Techniques; Microfluidics; Sweat; Wearable Electronic Devices
PubMed: 34436047
DOI: 10.3390/bios11080245 -
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 -
Biosensors Oct 2021Liquid crystals (LCs) with stimuli-responsive configuration transition and optical anisotropic properties have attracted enormous interest in the development of simple... (Review)
Review
Liquid crystals (LCs) with stimuli-responsive configuration transition and optical anisotropic properties have attracted enormous interest in the development of simple and label-free biosensors. The combination of microfluidics and the LCs offers great advantages over traditional LC-based biosensors including small sample consumption, fast analysis and low cost. Moreover, microfluidic techniques provide a promising tool to fabricate uniform and reproducible LC-based sensing platforms. In this review, we emphasize the recent development of microfluidics in the fabrication and integration of LC-based biosensors, including LC planar sensing platforms and LC droplets. Fabrication and integration of LC-based planar platforms with microfluidics for biosensing applications are first introduced. The generation and entrapment of monodisperse LC droplets with different microfluidic structures, as well as their applications in the detection of chemical and biological species, are then summarized. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives of the development of LC-based microfluidic biosensors are proposed. This review will promote the understanding of microfluidic techniques in LC-based biosensors and facilitate the development of LC-based microfluidic biosensing devices with high performance.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; Liquid Crystals; Microfluidics
PubMed: 34677341
DOI: 10.3390/bios11100385