Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lungile Nomcebo Thwala, Sphumelele Colin Ndlovu, Kelvin Tafadzwa Mpofu, Masixole Yvonne Lugongolo, Patience Mthunzi-Kufa
Summary: The introduction of point-of-care testing (POCT) has revolutionized medical testing by allowing for simple tests to be conducted near the patient's care point, rather than being confined to a medical laboratory. Nanotechnology has played a crucial role in achieving this goal, by not only making the tests possible but also masking their complexity. Microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip technologies are highlighted as major drivers of point-of-care testing, particularly in infectious disease diagnosis. The benefits of point-of-care testing are significant, especially in developing countries where medical care is shifting towards prevention, early detection, and managing chronic conditions.
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Snehan Peshin, Marc Madou, Lawrence Kulinsky
Summary: Centrifugal microfluidic platforms enable inexpensive point-of-care diagnostics and offer the ability to transfer complex processes, store reagents, and control flow. Valves play a crucial role in these platforms.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Rohit Mishra, Rizwan Alam, Darren McAuley, Tirinder Bharaj, Danielle Chung, David J. Kinahan, Charles Nwankire, Karen S. Anderson, Jens Ducree
Summary: The success of bioanalytical technologies deployed in decentralised settings relies on factors such as user-friendliness, ease-of-use, cost per-test (at low sample throughput), and adaptability to a wide range of analytes. The centrifugal microfluidic Lab-on-a-Disc (LoaD) platform, which can meet these criteria, faces challenges in implementing reliable flow routing and valving on a rapidly rotating cartridge. In this study, we demonstrate the automation of a bead-based Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA) using a novel membrane and centrifugal-stratification enabled router architecture. The assay is implemented in an entirely automated fashion using minimal instrumentation, showing the potential for customisation to specific targets.
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Snehan Peshin, Marc Madou, Lawrence Kulinsky
Summary: Over the past 20 years, numerous immunoassays have been successfully integrated on CD platforms, enabling portable POC platforms with sample-to-answer capabilities. This study demonstrates the simultaneous integration of blood plasma separation (BPS) and reciprocation on a CD platform, allowing for the separation of plasma from red blood cells without inflow into the reciprocation chamber. Experimental results showed that the integrated design had significantly higher fluorescent signal compared to the standard design when the reciprocation time was increased to 7 minutes.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Leah M. Dignan, Scott M. Karas, Isabella K. Mighell, William R. Treene, James P. Landers, Shane Woolf
Summary: Rotationally-driven lab-on-a-disc (LoaD) microfluidic systems are promising for complex nucleic acid testing, but the lack of on-disc sample preparation has limited their development. This study presents a practical method for inward fluid displacement (IFD) using carbon dioxide gas, allowing for sample preparation on the disc and compatibility with downstream nucleic acid amplification tests. The approach eliminates the need for large architectural features or corrosive chemicals and achieves control over neutralization initiation and pressure containment.
ANALYTICA CHIMICA ACTA
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Azim Parandakh, Oriol Ymbern, William Jogia, Johan Renault, Andy Ng, David Juncker
Summary: Researchers have developed a novel chip-based ELISA technology that enables rapid and highly sensitive antibody detection. The chip simplifies chip loading and pipetting through autonomous aliquoting functionality, and can accommodate higher surfactant concentrations. The ELISA chip can complete the assay in 1.5 hours and exhibits comparable accuracy and performance to central laboratory ELISA.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Hilal Torul, Zeynep Caglayan Arslan, Tugba Tezcan, Elif Calik Kayis, Merve Calimci, Aysen Gumustas, Ender Yildirim, Haluk Kulah, Ugur Tamer
Summary: Microfluidics allows for the integration of various laboratory protocols on a single system, offering advantages such as efficient transportation, reduced sample volumes, fast analysis time, and improved sensitivity. The combination of immunoassays and microfluidic technology has great potential as a biosensor system for blood samples.
JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL AND BIOMEDICAL ANALYSIS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Sebastian Hin, Nils Paust, Markus Rombach, Jan Lueddecke, Mara Specht, Roland Zengerle, Konstantinos Mitsakakis
Summary: Centrifugal microfluidics enables automated molecular diagnostics, but integrating solid-phase nucleic acid extraction remains challenging. We developed a magnetophoresis technique under continuous rotation for magnetic bead-based extraction, achieving easy cartridge integration and high yield and purity of nucleic acid extraction.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Snehan Peshin, Derosh George, Roya Shiri, Lawrence Kulinsky, Marc Madou
Summary: Compact disc (CD)-based centrifugal microfluidics is a popular choice for portable biological and chemical assays. This study presents two new multiple-use wax valve designs driven by capillary or magnetic forces. The capillary-driven wax valve was analyzed through numerical simulations and experimental results, and the parameters of the valve were measured and analyzed theoretically.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Snehan Peshin, John Golden, Boyang Gan, Christian Mast, Lawrence Kulinsky
Summary: Lateral flow immunoassays (LFIs) are commonly used point-of-care platforms for chemical and biological tests. The sensitivity of LFIs can be improved by slowing down the flow rate of analytes or controlling the flow using centrifugal force applied on Lab-on-a-Disc platforms. This study investigates the relationship between the speed of liquid advancement in LFIs and the porosity, pore size, and angular velocity of the spinning disc.
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Ruobo Peng, Zhaochang Lu, Ming Liu, Fei Hu
Summary: In this study, a pressure-assisted and centrifugal-driven microfluidic chip was designed for detecting respiratory pathogens. The chip achieved high sensitivity and simultaneous detection of multiple targets, and could be stored for a long time through freeze-drying.
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
(2024)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Shivangi Sachdeva, Ronald W. Davis, Amit K. Saha
Summary: POCT allows physicians to detect and diagnose diseases faster than conventional lab-based testing, with particular importance in the COVID-19 pandemic. There are various point-of-care tests and diagnostic devices available in the market, including glucose monitoring, pregnancy testing, and infectious disease testing.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biophysics
Ye Tang, Hui Gao, Felix Kurth, Loic Burr, Konstantinos Petropoulos, Davide Migliorelli, Olivier T. Guenat, Silvia Generelli
Summary: LFIA is a well-established technique that provides immediate results, but suffers from high limits of detection. Introduction of a novel cellulose nanofiber aerogel material into LFIA strips has been shown to improve the detection sensitivity by extending the sample flow time.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Jacob Friedrich Hess, Maria Elena Hess, Roland Zengerle, Nils Paust, Melanie Boerries, Tobias Hutzenlaub
Summary: Next generation sequencing is transitioning from a research tool to a method used in diagnostic routine. The complete sequencing workflow includes sample pre-processing, library preparation, sequencing, and bioinformatics analysis. This study presents an automated library preparation method for whole genome sequencing using centrifugal microfluidics, which significantly improves efficiency.
ANALYTICA CHIMICA ACTA
(2021)
Review
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Vinayak Narasimhan, Hyunseo Kim, Seung Heon Lee, Hyukjoon Kang, Radwanul Hasan Siddique, Haeri Park, Yibing M. M. Wang, Hyuck Choo, Youngeun Kim, Shailabh Kumar
Summary: The ongoing pandemic and increasing frequency of infectious disease outbreaks have put great focus on nucleic acid amplification-based diagnostic technologies (NAAT). These methods can provide gold standard accuracy and sensitivity, but their availability is limited to centralized facilities, causing distress in times of need. Academic-industrial collaborations can play a major role in developing autonomous and affordable NAAT devices for widespread access to diagnostics in the future.
ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Anubhab Acharya, Sateesh Dubbu, Sumit Kumar, Nitee Kumari, Yeseul Kim, Sunae So, Taewan Kwon, Zhipeng Wang, Junbeom Park, Yoon-Kyoung Cho, Junsuk Rho, Sang Ho Oh, Amit Kumar, In Su Lee
Summary: The study introduces a "confine and shine" strategy to homogeneously modify the different surface curvatures of plasmonic nanocrystals with ultra-thin conformal layers of diverse catalytic noble metals, avoiding kinetic anisotropic metal deposition. The self-limited epitaxial skin-like metal growth preserves the key plasmonic properties of the core nanocrystals while inducing reduction chemistry directly on the surface, leading to impressive rates of various organic reactions in plasmonic-catalytic hybrid nanoreactors.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Yongjun Choi, Vijaya Sunkara, Yeojin Lee, Yoon-Kyoung Cho
Summary: Dendritic cells (DCs) play essential roles in immune responses, with exhausted matured DCs (xmDCs) showing significantly different cellular migration behavior compared to active matured DCs (amDCs) and immature DCs (iDCs). Although xmDCs exhibit slower, less persistent, and less diffusive random motility, their CCR7-dependent chemotactic motility remains well-preserved.
Article
Oncology
Hyemin Kim, Chan Mi Heo, Jinmyeong Oh, Hwe Hoon Chung, Eun Mi Lee, Juhee Park, Se-Hoon Lee, Kwang Hyuck Lee, Kyu Taek Lee, Jong Kyun Lee, Yoon-Kyoung Cho, Joo Kyung Park
Summary: This study investigated the feasibility of using CTCs for monitoring disease progression, chemotherapy response, and survival in patients with unresectable PDAC. CTCs were detected in 84.62% of patients at the time of diagnosis, and a decrease in CTCs after chemotherapy was significantly associated with longer survival.
TRANSLATIONAL ONCOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chi-Ju Kim, Morgan D. Kuczler, Liang Dong, Junyoung Kim, Sarah R. Amend, Yoon-Kyoung Cho, Kenneth J. Pienta
Summary: This study proposes an efficient method for quantifying cellular uptake of extracellular vesicles (EVs) through three-dimensional fluorescence confocal microscopy. The method involves fluorescently labeling EVs, preparing them using a microfluidic device, visualizing their location within cells, and analyzing the images using advanced image-processing software.
JOVE-JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jonathan Sabate del Rio, Hyun-Kyung Woo, Juhee Park, Hong Koo Ha, Jae-Ryong Kim, Yoon-Kyoung Cho
Summary: Electrochemical biosensors have the potential to be cost-effective diagnostic tools for point-of-care testing. However, the sensitivity of directly analyzing complex biological fluids such as plasma has been limited due to biofouling. This study demonstrates a method for creating nanostructured and nanoporous gold electrodes, which greatly increases the surface area and improves detection sensitivity. The surfactant-based electrochemical etch-deposit interplay for nanostructure/nanopore growth (SEEDING) process enhances the sensitivity and antibiofouling capabilities of biosensors, enabling direct analysis of tumor-derived extracellular vesicles in complex biofluids.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sumit Kumar, Mamata Karmacharya, Yoon-Kyoung Cho
Summary: Cells are the fundamental units of life and contain the necessary information for building living creatures. Advances in synthetic biology and cell engineering allow for the redesign of biological systems, but creating life-like structures from nonliving building blocks remains challenging. Cell membrane-engineered micro or nanoreactors have promising applications.
Article
Oncology
Jisu Lee, Hyun Sik Park, Seung Ro Han, Yun Hee Kang, Ji Young Mun, Dong Wook Shin, Hyun-Woo Oh, Yoon-Kyoung Cho, Myung-Shin Lee, Jinsung Park
Summary: Extracellular vesicles derived from urine, specifically urinary EVs (uEVs), have shown promise as diagnostic biomarkers for urogenital cancers. This study identified uEV-derived alpha-2-macroglobulin (a2M) as a novel diagnostic biomarker for bladder cancer (BC) and validated its upregulation in patient uEVs. The use of the centrifugal microfluidic tangential flow filtration device ExoDisc was found to be more effective for uEV protein analysis compared to classical differential centrifugation. These findings suggest that this approach for EV analysis can lead to the identification of clinically meaningful uEV-based biomarkers for cancer diagnosis.
FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biophysics
Jonathan Sabate del Rio, Jooyoung Ro, Heejeong Yoon, Tae-Eun Park, Yoon-Kyoung Cho
Summary: Organs-on-chips (OoCs) are biomimetic in vitro systems that mimic the physicochemical microenvironments, physiologies, and key functional units of specific human organs using microfluidic cell cultures. These systems have the potential to replace animal models, enable personalized medicine, and require continuous monitoring of quality parameters. Integration of biosensing technologies into OoCs allows for monitoring of their physiologies, functions, and microenvironments. Future directions involve the application of artificial intelligence for process optimization, self-regulation, and data analysis in OoCs and cyber-physical systems.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Mamata Karmacharya, Sumit Kumar, Yoon-Kyoung Cho
Summary: Membrane fusion is an important phenomenon for cellular function. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have the ability to transfer information between cells through fusion and can be used in diagnostics and therapeutics. This study explores the potential applications of EVs and their fusion with liposomes and cells, as well as methods to enhance the fusion process. EVs have high loading capacity, bio-compatibility, and stability, making them ideal for drug production and diagnostics. The unique properties of fused EVs and the necessary design and development procedures are also examined. The promise of EVs in disease management highlights their potential role in future healthcare.
JOURNAL OF FUNCTIONAL BIOMATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Junyoung Kim, Vijaya Sunkara, Jungmin Kim, Jooyoung Ro, Chi-Ju Kim, Elizabeth Maria Clarissa, Sung Wook Jung, Hee Jin Lee, Yoon-Kyoung Cho
Summary: Tumor-educated platelets play a critical role in tumorigenesis, cancer development, and metastasis. Researchers found that interleukin-8 (IL-8) in cancer-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) contributed to platelet activation, resulting in increased platelet adhesion and potentially leading to tumor metastasis. Platelet adhesion levels can differentiate breast cancer patients with and without metastasis.
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Jooyoung Ro, Junyoung Kim, Yoon-Kyoung Cho
Summary: Three-dimensional multicellular spheroid models can accurately recapitulate the tumor microenvironment and microfluidic platforms are extensively used to study spheroids and understand cellular interactions and discover cancer therapeutics.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Tanya Narahari, Joshua Dahmer, Alexandros Sklavounos, Taehyeong Kim, Monika Satkauskas, Ioana Clotea, Man Ho, Julian Lamanna, Christopher Dixon, Darius G. Rackus, Severino Jefferson Ribeiro da Silva, Lindomar Pena, Keith Pardee, Aaron R. Wheeler
Summary: This paper introduces a digital microfluidic platform for portable, automated, and integrated Zika viral RNA extraction and amplification. The platform features reconfigurable DMF cartridges and programmable control instrumentation, and it can be coupled with paper-based analysis for amplified Zika RNA. Blinded laboratory evaluation and field evaluation in Brazil showed high sensitivity and specificity of the platform.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Chi-Ju Kim, Jungmin Kim, Jonathan Sabate del Rio, Dong Yeob Ki, Junyoung Kim, Yoon-Kyoung Cho
Summary: Platelet function tests are crucial in diagnosing inherited platelet function disorders and monitoring antiplatelet therapies. Light transmission aggregometry (LTA) is considered the gold standard, but lacks standardization and requires a large volume of blood. A centrifugal microfluidic disc has been developed to automate LTA testing from a small blood sample, producing more precise results in a shorter time.
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Chi-Ju Kim, Liang Dong, Sarah R. Amend, Yoon-Kyoung Cho, Kenneth J. Pienta
Summary: Liquid biopsy serves as a valuable tool in cancer diagnosis and treatment guidance, utilizing biomarkers such as CTCs, EVs, and ctDNA. Prostate cancer ranks as the second most common cancer in males globally, with management strategies focusing on biopsy and prevention of metastatic disease.
Review
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Mamata Karmacharya, Sumit Kumar, Oleksandra Gulenko, Yoon-Kyoung Cho
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to changes in daily lives, with technologies and materials playing a role in reducing infection spread. Facemasks are a reliable preventive measure but may pose a risk of cross-infection due to lack of virucidal properties after use.
ACS APPLIED BIO MATERIALS
(2021)