Blood biochemical indicators are an important basis for the diagnosis and treatment by doctors. The performance of related instruments, the qualification of operators, the storage method and time of blood samples and other factors will affect the accuracy of test results. However, it is difficult to meet the clinical needs of rapid detection and early screening of diseases with currently available methods. Point-of-care testing (POCT) is a new diagnostic technology with the characteristics of instant, portability, accuracy and efficiency. Microfluidic chips can provide an ideal experimental reaction platform for POCT. This paper summarizes the existing detection methods for common biochemical indicators such as blood glucose, lactic acid, uric acid, dopamine and cholesterol, and focuses on the application status of POCT based on microfluidic technology in blood biochemistry. It also summarizes the advantages and challenges of existing methods and prospects for development. The purpose of this paper is to provide relevant basis for breaking through the technical barriers of microfluidic and POCT product development in China.
Humans ; Point-of-Care Testing ; Lactic Acid/blood* ; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques/methods* ; Blood Glucose/analysis* ; Point-of-Care Systems ; Blood Chemical Analysis/instrumentation* ; Uric Acid/blood* ; Cholesterol/blood* ; Dopamine/blood* ; Microfluidics/methods*

As prepubertal boys do not yet produce spermatozoa, they cannot rely on sperm cryopreservation for fertility preservation before gonadotoxic therapy, such as high-dose alkylating agents or radiotherapy in the case of childhood cancers. According to the current guidelines, cryopreservation of testicular biopsies containing spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) may be proposed to high-risk patients for potential later therapeutic use to fulfill the patients' wish for a biological child. One promising technique for human in vitro spermatogenesis and in vitro propagation of human SSCs is microfluidic (MF) culture, in which cells or tissues are subjected to a continuous flow of medium. This provides exact control over such parameters as nutrient content and gradients, as well as the removal of waste metabolites. While MF has been shown to maintain tissues and cell populations of organs for longer than conventional in vitro culture techniques, it has not been widely used for testicular in vitro culture. MF could advance human testicular in vitro culture and is also applicable to reprotoxicity studies. This review summarizes the findings and achievements of testis-on-chip (ToC) setups to date and discusses the benefits and limitations of these for spermatogenesis in vitro and toxicity assessment.
Humans ; Male ; Spermatogenesis/physiology* ; Testis/cytology* ; Cryopreservation ; Cell Culture Techniques/methods* ; Microfluidics/methods* ; Animals

Dynamic changes in the physiochemical, structural, and flavor characteristics of ginger-juice milk curd were explored by texture analysis, scanning electron microscopy, rheometry, electronic tongue, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Protein electrophoresis showed that ginger juice could hydrolyze α_s-, β-, and κ-casein. Curd formation was initiated at 90 s, marked by significant changes in intensity detected via intrinsic fluorescence. The contents of soluble protein and calcium decreased rapidly during coagulation, while the caseinolytic activity, storage moduli, loss moduli, hardness, adhesiveness, and water-holding capacity increased, resulting in a denser gel structure with smaller pores and fewer cavitations as observed by scanning electron microscopy. Electronic tongue analysis indicated that milk could neutralize the astringency and saltiness of ginger juice, rendering the taste of ginger-juice milk curd more akin to that of milk. Approximately 70 volatile components were detected in ginger-juice milk curd. α‍-Zingiberene, α‍-curcumene, β‍-sesquiphellandrene, and β‍-bisabolene were the predominant volatile flavor compounds, exhibiting an initial decrease in content followed by stability after 90 s. Decanoic acid, γ-elemene, and caryophyllene were identified as unique volatile compounds after mixing of milk and ginger juice. Understanding the dynamic changes in these characteristics during coagulation holds significant importance for the production of ginger-juice milk curd.
Zingiber officinale/chemistry* ; Milk/chemistry* ; Animals ; Taste ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Caseins/chemistry* ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Rheology ; Flavoring Agents

OBJECTIVES: To synthesize a temperature-responsive multimodal motion microrobot (MMMR) using temperature and magnetic field-assisted microfluidic droplet technology to achieve targeted drug delivery and controlled drug release. METHODS: Microfluidic droplet technology was utilized to synthesize the MMMR by mixing gelatin with magnetic microparticles. The microrobot possessed a magnetic anisotropy structure to allow its navigation and targeted drug release by controlling the temperature field and magnetic field. In the experiment, the MMMR was controlled to move in a wide range along a preset path by rotating a uniform magnetic field, and the local circular motion was driven by a planar rotating gradient magnetic field of different frequencies. The MMMR was loaded with simulated drugs, which were released in response to laser heating. RESULTS: Driven by a rotating magnetic field, the MMMR achieved linear motion following a predefined path. The planar gradient rotating magnetic field controlled circular motion of the MMMR with an adjustable radius, utilizing the centrifugal force generated by rotation. The drug-loaded MMMR successfully reached the target location under magnetic guidance, where the gelatin matrix was melted using laser heating for accurate drug release, after which the remaining magnetic particles were removed using magnetic field. CONCLUSIONS The MMMR possesses multimodal motion capabilities to enable precise navigation along a predefined path and dynamic regulation of drug release within the target area, thus having great potential for a wide range of biomedical applications.
Drug Delivery Systems/methods* ; Temperature ; Drug Liberation ; Magnetic Fields ; Robotics ; Gelatin/chemistry* ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Microfluidics ; Motion

Reduced chemotactic migration of polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) in sepsis patients leads to decreased bacterial clearance and accelerates the progression of sepsis disease. Quantification of PMN chemotaxis in sepsis patients can help characterize the immune health of sepsis patients. Microfluidic microarrays have been widely used for cell chemotaxis analysis because of the advantages of low reagent consumption, near-physiological environment, and visualization of the migration process. Currently, the study of PMN chemotaxis using microfluidic chips is mainly limited by the cumbersome cell separation operation and low throughput of microfluidic chips. In this paper, we first designed an inertial cell sorting chip to achieve label-free separation of the two major cell types by using the basic principle that leukocytes (mainly granulocytes, lymphocytes and monocytes) and erythrocytes move to different positions of the spiral microchannel when they move in the spiral microchannel under different strength of inertial force and Dean's resistance. Subsequently, in this paper, we designed a multi-channel cell migration chip and constructed a microfluidic PMN inertial label-free sorting and chemotaxis analysis platform. The inertial cell sorting chip separates leukocyte populations and then injects them into the multi-channel cell migration chip, which can complete the chemotaxis test of PMN to chemotactic peptide (fMLP) within 15 min. The remaining cells, such as monocytes with slow motility and lymphocytes that require pre-activation with proliferative culture, do not undergo significant chemotactic migration. The test results of sepsis patients ( n=6) and healthy volunteers ( n=3) recruited in this study showed that the chemotaxis index (CI) and migration velocity ( v) of PMN from sepsis patients were significantly weaker than those from healthy volunteers. In conclusion, the microfluidic PMN inertial label-free sorting and chemotaxis analysis platform constructed in this paper can be used as a new tool for cell label-free sorting and migration studies.
Humans ; Chemotaxis ; Neutrophils/metabolism* ; Microfluidics ; Cell Movement ; Sepsis/metabolism*

Cardiovascular disease is a major threat to human health and has become the leading cause of death worldwide; therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are of great value. Due to its miniaturization, integration, and ease of operation, microfluidic technology enables the rapid, multi-target detection of cardiovascular disease markers and significantly facilitates the early and rapid diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. This article reviews the research progress of microfluidics in cardiovascular disease detection, analyzes its advantages and weaknesses in the rapid detection of protein, lipid, and nucleic acid biomarkers, hopes to provide a reference to promote the quick detection technology of cardiovascular disease, and thus proposes new considerations for the early management of cardiovascular disease.
Humans ; Microfluidics ; Cardiovascular Diseases/diagnosis* ; Biomarkers ; Early Diagnosis

Droplet microfluidics technology offers refined control over the flows of multiple fluids in micro/nano-scale, enabling fabrication of micro/nano-droplets with precisely adjustable structures and compositions in a high-throughput manner. With the combination of proper hydrogel materials and preparation methods, single or multiple cells can be efficiently encapsulated into hydrogels to produce cell-loaded hydrogel microspheres. The cell-loaded hydrogel microspheres can provide a three-dimensional, relatively independent and controllable microenvironment for cell proliferation and differentiation, which is of great value for three-dimensional cell culture, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, stem cell research, single cell study and many other biological science fields. In this review, the preparation methods of cell-loaded hydrogel microspheres based on droplet microfluidics and its applications in biomedical field are summarized and future prospects are proposed.
Hydrogels/chemistry* ; Microfluidics/methods* ; Microspheres ; Regenerative Medicine ; Tissue Engineering/methods*

The kidney is the body's most important organ and the protein components in urine could be detected for diagnosing certain diseases. The amount of IgG protein in urine could be used to determine the degree of kidney function damage. IgG protein in human urine was detected by vertical flow paper-based microfluidic chip, double-antibody sandwich immunoreaction, and cell phone image processing. The results showed that using an IgG antibody concentration of 500 μg/mL and a gold standard antibody concentration of 100 μg/mL, the image signal showed a good linear relationship in the range of IgG concentration of 0.2-3.2 μg/mL, with R²=0.973 3 achieved. A complete set of detection devices were designed and the detection method showed good non-specificity.
Humans ; Microfluidics ; Immunoglobulin G ; Kidney ; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques

Caused by endocrine disorder, hyperplasia of mammary glands(HMG) tends to occur in the young with increasing incidence, putting patients at the risk of cancer and threatening the health of women. Therefore, the prevention and treatment of HMG is attracting more and more attention. Amid the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), many scholars have found that Chinese patent medicine has unique advantages and huge potential in treatment of endocrine disorder. Particularly, Chinese patent medicine with the function of blood-activating and mass-dissipating, such as Xiaojin Pills and Xiaozheng Pills, has been commonly used in clinical treatment of HMG, which features multiple targets, obvious efficacy, small side effect, and ease of taking and carrying around. Clinical studies have found that the combination of Chinese patent medicine with other medicine can not only improve the efficacy and relieve symptoms such as hyperplasia and pain but also reduce the toxic and side effects of western medicine. Therefore, based on precious pharmacological research and clinical research, this study reviewed the mechanisms of blood-activating mass-dissipating Chinese patent medicine alone and in combination with other medicine, such as regulating levels of in vivo hormones and receptors, promoting apoptosis, inhibiting angiogenesis, improving hemorheology indexes, enhancing immunity, and boosting antioxidant ability. In addition, limitations and problems were summarized. Thereby, this study is expected to lay a theoretical basis for the further study and clinical application of blood-activating mass-dissipating Chinese patent medicine alone or in combination with other medicine against HMG.
Humans ; Female ; Hyperplasia/drug therapy* ; Nonprescription Drugs ; Mammary Glands, Human/pathology* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Hemorheology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use*

Objective To examine the antiplatelet effect of ticagrelor by microfluidic chip and flow cytometry under shear stress in vitro. Methods Microfluidic chip was used to examine the effect of ticagrelor on platelet aggregation at the shear rates of 300/s and 1500/s.We adopted the surface coverage of platelet aggregation to calculate the half inhibition rate of ticagrelor.The inhibitory effect of ticagrelor on ADP-induced platelet aggregation was verified by optical turbidimetry.Microfluidic chip was used to construct an in vitro vascular stenosis model,with which the platelet reactivity under high shear rate was determined.Furthermore,the effect of ticagrelor on the expression of fibrinogen receptor (PAC-1) and P-selectin (CD62P) on platelet membrane activated by high shear rate was analyzed by flow cytometry. Results At the shear rates of 300/s and 1500/s,ticagrelor inhibited platelet aggregation in a concentration-dependent manner,and the inhibition at 300/s was stronger than that at 1500/s (both P<0.001).Ticagrelor at a concentration ≥4 μmol/L almost completely inhibited platelet aggregation.The inhibition of ADP-induced platelet aggregation by ticagrelor was similar to the results under flow conditions and also in a concentration-dependent manner.Ticagrelor inhibited the expression of PAC-1 and CD62P. Conclusion We employed microfluidic chip to analyze platelet aggregation and flow cytometry to detect platelet activation,which can reveal the responses of different patients to ticagrelor.
Humans ; Ticagrelor/pharmacology* ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors/pharmacology* ; Flow Cytometry/methods* ; Microfluidics ; Platelet Aggregation