Biochip reader is an important instrument for taking pictures of biochip. The accuracy of the instrument influences diagnosis of doctors. So it is important to reduce the nonuniformity of images and the error between the biochip readers. This paper describes the development of new standard plane light source, which can reduce the work load of calibration, improve the accuracy and speed of calibration, made the biochip readers more reliably.
Equipment Design ; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices ; Light ; Microarray Analysis

PURPOSE: We aim to fabricate a thermoplastic poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) Lab-on-a-Chip device to perform continuous- flow polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) for rapid molecular detection of foodborne pathogen bacteria. METHODS: A miniaturized plastic device was fabricated by utilizing PMMA substrates mediated by poly(dimethylsiloxane) interfacial coating, enabling bonding under mild conditions, and thus avoiding the deformation or collapse of microchannels. Surface characterizations were carried out and bond strength was measured. The feasibility of the Lab-on-a-Chip device for performing on-chip PCR utilizing a lab-made, portable dual heater was evaluated. The results were compared with those obtained using a commercially available thermal cycler. RESULTS: A PMMA Lab-on-a-Chip device was designed and fabricated for conducting PCR using foodborne pathogens as sample targets. A robust bond was established between the PMMA substrates, which is essential for performing miniaturized PCR on plastic. The feasibility of on-chip PCR was evaluated using Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Cronobacter condimenti, two worldwide foodborne pathogens, and the target amplicons were successfully amplified within 25 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we present a novel design of a low-cost and high-throughput thermoplastic PMMA Lab-on-a-Chip device for conducting microscale PCR, and we enable rapid molecular diagnoses of two important foodborne pathogens in minute resolution using this device. In this regard, the introduced highly portable system design has the potential to enable PCR investigations of many diseases quickly and accurately.
Bacteria ; Cronobacter ; Diagnosis* ; Escherichia coli ; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices* ; Plastics* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Polymethyl Methacrylate

Traditional approaches to pathophysiology are advancing but still have many limitations that arise from real biologic systems and their associated physiological phenomena being too complicated. Microfluidics is a novel technology in the field of engineering, which provides new options that may overcome these hurdles. Microfluidics handles small volumes of fluids and may apply to various applications such as DNA analysis chips, other lab-on-a-chip analyses, micropropulsion, and microthermal technologies. Among them, organ-on-a-chip applications allow the fabrication of minimal functional units of a single organ or multiple organs. Relevant to the field of nephrology, renal tubular cells have been integrated with microfluidic devices for making kidneys-on-a-chip. Although still early in development, kidneys-on-a-chip are showing potential to provide a better understanding of the kidney to replace some traditional animal and human studies, particularly as more cell types are incorporated toward the development of a complete glomerulion-a-chip.
Animals ; DNA ; Humans ; Kidney* ; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices ; Microfluidics ; Nephrology ; Physiological Phenomena

Cell migration is defined as the directional movement of cells toward a specific chemical concentration gradient, which plays a crucial role in embryo development, wound healing and tumor metastasis. However, current research methods showed low flux and are only suitable for single-factor assessment, and it was difficult to comprehensively consider the effects of other parameters such as different concentration gradients on cell migration behavior. In this paper, a four-channel microfluidic chip was designed. Its characteristics were as follows: it relied on laminar flow and diffusion mechanisms to establish and maintain a concentration gradient; it was suitable for observation of cell migration in different concentration gradient environment under a single microscope field; four cell isolation zones (20 μm width) were integrated into the microfluidic device to calibrate the initial cell position, which ensured the accuracy of the experimental results. In particular, we used COMSOL Multiphysics software to simulate the structure of the chip, which demonstrated the necessity of designing S-shaped microchannel and horizontal pressure balance channel to maintain concentration gradient. Finally, neutrophils were incubated with advanced glycation end products (AGEs, 0, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0 μmol·L ^-1), which were closely related to diabetes mellitus and its complications. The migration behavior of incubated neutrophils was studied in the 100 nmol·L ^-1 of chemokine (N-formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenyl-alanine) concentration gradient. The results prove the reliability and practicability of the microfluidic chip.
Cell Movement ; Chemotaxis ; Equipment Design ; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices ; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques ; Microfluidics ; Neutrophils ; Reproducibility of Results

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful non-invasive molecular imaging technique for the early detection, characterization, and "real-time" monitoring of disease, and for investigating the efficacy of drugs (Phelps, 2000; Ametamey et al., 2008). The development of molecular probes bearing short-lived positron-emitting radionuclides, such as ¹⁸F (half-life 110 min) or ¹¹C (half-life 20 min), is crucial for PET imaging to collect in vivo metabolic information in a time-efficient manner (Deng et al., 2019). In this regard, one of the main challenges is rapid synthesis of radiolabeled probes by introducing the radionuclides into pharmaceuticals as soon as possible before injection for a PET scan. Although many potential PET probes have been discovered, only a handful can satisfy the demand for a highly efficient synthesis procedure that achieves radiolabeling and delivery for imaging within 1-2 radioisotope half-lives. Only a few probes, such as 2-deoxy-2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-D-glucose (¹⁸F-FDG) and [¹⁸F]fluorodopa, are routinely produced on a commercial scale for daily clinical diagnosis (Grayson et al., 2018; Carollo et al., 2019).
Lab-On-A-Chip Devices ; Positron-Emission Tomography/methods* ; Radioisotopes/chemistry* ; Radiopharmaceuticals/chemical synthesis* ; Solid Phase Extraction

We present the construction of the lab-on-a-chip (LOC) system, a state-of-the-art technology that uses polymer materials (i.e., poly[dimethylsiloxane]) for the miniaturization of conventional laboratory apparatuses, and show the potential use of these microfluidic devices in clinical applications. In particular, we introduce the independent unit components of the LOC system and demonstrate how each component can be functionally integrated into one monolithic system for the realization of a LOC system. In specific, we demonstrate microscale polymerase chain reaction with the use of a single heater, a microscale sample injection device with a disposable plastic syringe and a strategy for device assembly under environmentally mild conditions assisted by surface modification techniques. In this way, we endeavor to construct a totally integrated, disposable microfluidic system operated by a single mode, the pressure, which can be applied on-site with enhanced device portability and disposability and with simple and rapid operation for medical and clinical diagnoses, potentially extending its application to urodynamic studies in molecular level.
Disposable Equipment ; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices ; Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems ; Microfluidics ; Miniaturization ; Plastics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymers ; Syringes ; Urodynamics

Microfluidics is considered an important technology that is suitable for numerous biomedical applications, including cancer diagnosis, metastasis, drug delivery, and tissue engineering. Although microfluidics is still considered to be a new approach in urological research, several pioneering studies have been reported in recent years. In this paper, we reviewed urological research works using microfluidic devices. Microfluidic devices were used for the detection of prostate and bladder cancer and the characterization of cancer microenvironments. The potential applications of microfluidics in urinary analysis and sperm sorting were demonstrated. The use of microfluidic devices in urology research can provide high-throughput, high-precision, and low-cost analyzing platforms.
Diagnosis ; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices* ; Microfluidics* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prostate ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Spermatozoa ; Tissue Engineering ; Tumor Microenvironment ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Urology*

This paper deals with the manufacturing state of the art of biochip, and introduces a new method--laser microtechnology, including its developing procedure, characteristics and function in biochip production.
Biosensing Techniques ; instrumentation ; methods ; Computer-Aided Design ; Equipment Design ; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices ; Lasers ; Microchip Analytical Procedures ; methods ; Micromanipulation

Flexible print circuit (FPC) technology has been widely applied in variety of electric circuits with high precision due to its advantages, such as low-cost, high specific fabrication ability, and good flexibility, etc. Recently, this technology has also been used in biomedical engineering, especially in the development of microfluidic chip and microelectrode array. The high specific fabrication can help making microelectrode and other micro-structure equipment. And good flexibility allows the micro devices based on FPC technique to be easily packaged with other parts. In addition, it also reduces the damage of microelectrodes to the tissue. In this paper, the application of FPC technology in biomedical engineering is introduced. Moreover, the important parameters of FPC technique and the development trend of prosperous applications is also discussed.
Biomedical Engineering ; instrumentation ; methods ; Electricity ; Equipment Design ; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices ; trends ; Microelectrodes ; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques ; instrumentation ; Microfluidics ; instrumentation

Radial glial cells (RGCs) which function as neural stem cells are known to be non-excitable and their proliferation depends on the intracellular calcium (Ca²⁺) level. It has been well established that Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-mediated Ca²⁺ release and Ca²⁺ entry through various Ca²⁺ channels are involved in the proliferation of RGCs. Furthermore, RGCs line the ventricular wall and are exposed to a shear stress due to a physical contact with the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). However, little is known about how the Ca²⁺ entry through mechanosensitive ion channels affects the proliferation of RGCs. Hence, we hypothesized that shear stress due to a flow of CSF boosts the proliferative potential of RGCs possibly via an activation of mechanosensitive Ca²⁺ channel during the embryonic brain development. Here, we developed a new microfluidic two-dimensional culture system to establish a link between the flow shear stress and the proliferative activity of cultured RGCs. Using this microfluidic device, we successfully visualized the artificial CSF and RGCs in direct contact and found a significant enhancement of proliferative capacity of RGCs in response to increased shear stress. To determine if there are any mechanosensitive ion channels involved, a mechanical stimulation by poking was given to individual RGCs. We found that a poking on radial glial cell induced an increase in intracellular Ca²⁺ level, which disappeared under the extracellular Ca²⁺-free condition. Our results suggest that the shear stress by CSF flow possibly activates mechanosensitive Ca²⁺ channels, which gives rise to a Ca²⁺ entry which enhances the proliferative capacity of RGCs.
Brain ; Calcium Channels* ; Calcium* ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Ependymoglial Cells* ; Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate ; Ion Channels ; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices ; Microfluidics ; Neural Stem Cells