Lab-on-a-Chip and Organ-on-a-Chip: Fabrications and Applications

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "B:Biology and Biomedicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (22 May 2022) | Viewed by 15334

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
Interests: biosensors; microfluidic devices; tissue engineering; drug delivery
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microfluidic devices have been widely used in the fields of analytical chemistry, biomedical engineering, and medicine. Recent research in the microfluidic research has shown two emerging trends: lab-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip. For the former, rapid and sensitive high-throughput microfluidic-device-based sensors are developed for diagnostic, safety inspection and forensic applications; for the latter, tissues and organ systems on a chip are grown in vitro to recapitulate innate complexity and dynamic functions of human tissues and organs. This organ-on-a-chip approach holds great promise to accelerate discoveries in disease mechanisms, diagnostic assays, and therapies.

In this Special Issue, we invite the scientific community to publish their recent research efforts and discoveries on this exciting topic of lab-on-a-chip or organ-on-a-chip. Both original research papers and review articles on the fabrications/applications of lab-on-a-chip or organ-on-a-chip are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Xudong Cao
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Biosensors
  • Detection
  • Microfluidics
  • Diagnosis
  • Point-of-care
  • Artificial organ

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 6477 KiB  
Article
PDMS Organ-On-Chip Design and Fabrication: Strategies for Improving Fluidic Integration and Chip Robustness of Rapidly Prototyped Microfluidic In Vitro Models
by Tiffany C. Cameron, Avineet Randhawa, Samantha M. Grist, Tanya Bennet, Jessica Hua, Luis G. Alde, Tara M. Caffrey, Cheryl L. Wellington and Karen C. Cheung
Micromachines 2022, 13(10), 1573; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13101573 - 22 Sep 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4344
Abstract
The PDMS-based microfluidic organ-on-chip platform represents an exciting paradigm that has enjoyed a rapid rise in popularity and adoption. A particularly promising element of this platform is its amenability to rapid manufacturing strategies, which can enable quick adaptations through iterative prototyping. These strategies, [...] Read more.
The PDMS-based microfluidic organ-on-chip platform represents an exciting paradigm that has enjoyed a rapid rise in popularity and adoption. A particularly promising element of this platform is its amenability to rapid manufacturing strategies, which can enable quick adaptations through iterative prototyping. These strategies, however, come with challenges; fluid flow, for example, a core principle of organs-on-chip and the physiology they aim to model, necessitates robust, leak-free channels for potentially long (multi-week) culture durations. In this report, we describe microfluidic chip fabrication methods and strategies that are aimed at overcoming these difficulties; we employ a subset of these strategies to a blood–brain-barrier-on-chip, with others applied to a small-airway-on-chip. Design approaches are detailed with considerations presented for readers. Results pertaining to fabrication parameters we aimed to improve (e.g., the thickness uniformity of molded PDMS), as well as illustrative results pertaining to the establishment of cell cultures using these methods will also be presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lab-on-a-Chip and Organ-on-a-Chip: Fabrications and Applications)
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8 pages, 2087 KiB  
Article
Module-Fluidics: Building Blocks for Spatio-Temporal Microenvironment Control
by Bowen Ling and Ilenia Battiato
Micromachines 2022, 13(5), 774; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13050774 - 14 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1765
Abstract
Generating the desired solute concentration signal in micro-environments is vital to many applications ranging from micromixing to analyzing cellular response to a dynamic microenvironment. We propose a new modular design to generate targeted temporally varying concentration signals in microfluidic systems while minimizing perturbations [...] Read more.
Generating the desired solute concentration signal in micro-environments is vital to many applications ranging from micromixing to analyzing cellular response to a dynamic microenvironment. We propose a new modular design to generate targeted temporally varying concentration signals in microfluidic systems while minimizing perturbations to the flow field. The modularized design, here referred to as module-fluidics, similar in principle to interlocking toy bricks, is constructed from a combination of two building blocks and allows one to achieve versatility and flexibility in dynamically controlling input concentration. The building blocks are an oscillator and an integrator, and their combination enables the creation of controlled and complex concentration signals, with different user-defined time-scales. We show two basic connection patterns, in-series and in-parallel, to test the generation, integration, sampling and superposition of temporally-varying signals. All such signals can be fully characterized by analytic functions, in analogy with electric circuits, and allow one to perform design and optimization before fabrication. Such modularization offers a versatile and promising platform that allows one to create highly customizable time-dependent concentration inputs which can be targeted to the specific application of interest. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lab-on-a-Chip and Organ-on-a-Chip: Fabrications and Applications)
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19 pages, 5230 KiB  
Article
Study of the Fabrication Technology of Hybrid Microfluidic Biochips for Label-Free Detection of Proteins
by Nikita Sitkov, Tatiana Zimina, Alexey Kolobov, Evgeny Sevostyanov, Valentina Trushlyakova, Viktor Luchinin, Alexander Krasichkov, Oleg Markelov, Michael Galagudza and Dmitry Kaplun
Micromachines 2022, 13(1), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13010020 - 24 Dec 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3666
Abstract
A study of the peculiarities and a comparative analysis of the technologies used for the fabrication of elements of novel hybrid microfluidic biochips for express biomedical analysis have been carried out. The biochips were designed with an incorporated microfluidic system, which enabled an [...] Read more.
A study of the peculiarities and a comparative analysis of the technologies used for the fabrication of elements of novel hybrid microfluidic biochips for express biomedical analysis have been carried out. The biochips were designed with an incorporated microfluidic system, which enabled an accumulation of the target compounds in a biological fluid to be achieved, thus increasing the biochip system’s sensitivity and even implementing a label-free design of the detection unit. The multilevel process of manufacturing a microfluidic system of a given topology for label-free fluorometric detection of protein structures is presented. The technological process included the chemical modification of the working surface of glass substrates by silanization using (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMS), formation of the microchannels, for which SU-8 technologies and a last generation dry film photoresist were studied and compared. The solid-state phosphor layers were deposited using three methods: drop application; airbrushing; and mechanical spraying onto the adhesive surface. The processes of sealing the system, installing input ports, and packaging using micro-assembly technologies are described. The technological process has been optimized and the biochip was implemented and tested. The presented system can be used to design novel high-performance diagnostic tools that implement the function of express detection of protein markers of diseases and create low-power multimodal, highly intelligent portable analytical decision-making systems in medicine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lab-on-a-Chip and Organ-on-a-Chip: Fabrications and Applications)
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Review

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17 pages, 1853 KiB  
Review
Multivalent Aptamer Approach: Designs, Strategies, and Applications
by Zhong Wang, Xiuying Yang, Nicholas Zhou Lee and Xudong Cao
Micromachines 2022, 13(3), 436; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13030436 - 12 Mar 2022
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4696
Abstract
Aptamers are short and single-stranded DNA or RNA molecules with highly programmable structures that give them the ability to interact specifically with a large variety of targets, including proteins, cells, and small molecules. Multivalent aptamers refer to molecular constructs that combine two or [...] Read more.
Aptamers are short and single-stranded DNA or RNA molecules with highly programmable structures that give them the ability to interact specifically with a large variety of targets, including proteins, cells, and small molecules. Multivalent aptamers refer to molecular constructs that combine two or more identical or different types of aptamers. Multivalency increases the avidity of aptamers, a particularly advantageous feature that allows for significantly increased binding affinities in comparison with aptamer monomers. Another advantage of multivalency is increased aptamer stabilities that confer improved performances under physiological conditions for various applications in clinical settings. The current study aims to review the most recent developments in multivalent aptamer research. The review will first discuss structures of multivalent aptamers. This is followed by detailed discussions on design strategies of multivalent aptamer approaches. Finally, recent developments of the multivalent aptamer approach in biosensing and biomedical applications are highlighted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lab-on-a-Chip and Organ-on-a-Chip: Fabrications and Applications)
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