Archive for the ‘microTAS abstracts’ Category

Lab on a Chip continues partnership with online MicroTAS 2020: our prize winners blog!

The online µTAS 2020 meeting was held from 4-9th October, chaired by Séverine Le Gac and Hang Lu. Philippa Ross, Executive Editor of Lab on a Chip, contributed to a panel discussion on Ethics in Science, and Millie Newman, Deputy Editor of Lab on a Chip, attended to announce the winners of our prestigious Lab on a Chip-sponsored prizes. We’d like to thank all those who entered the awards this year, and to the judging panels who helped us select the winners. All three prizes received excellent submissions and we’re delighted to announce the winners below.


Lab on a Chip/Dolomite Pioneers of Miniaturization Lectureship
Professor Wilbur Lam (Georgia Institute of Technology/Emory University, USA), has been awarded the 15th Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lectureship, sponsored by Dolomite and Lab on a Chip. The Pioneers of Miniaturization Lectureship rewards early to mid-career scientists who have made extraordinary or outstanding contributions to the understanding or development of miniaturised systems.
Like previous years, Professor Lam will receive a monetary award, certificate and plaque, and gave a stunning talk during the online µTAS 2020 conference on clinical translations of microfluidic systems and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.


 

Art in Science Competition
In collaboration with Greg Cooksey from the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), we were pleased to present the Art in Science award to Qinyu Li (Shanghai Jiao Tong University), for his image titled “A microvascular ring”. This award highlights the aesthetic value of scientific illustrations while still conveying scientific merit.
The image is a fluorescent photograph of a 3D vasculogenic network from human umbilical vein endothelial cells inside a ring-shaped polymethylmethacrylate microfluidic chamber.


Widmer Poster Prize
The Widmer Poster Prize was awarded this year to Janosch Hauser (KTH Royal Institute of Technology), for his poster and video presentation on “TEM grid preparation with minimal user interaction”. Janosch put a huge amount of time and effort into his presentation, and the judges were very impressed.


Congratulations to all the winners at this year’s online µTAS conference. We look forward to seeing you at µTAS 2021, hopefully in-person, in Palm Springs, California!

 

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MicroTAS 2018 Highlights

The 22nd International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (aka MicroTAS) was held last year in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Welcoming more than 1000 participants, MicroTAS 2018 conference brought together several disciplines including microfluidics, microfabrication, nanotechnology, integration, materials& surfaces, analysis & synthesis, and detection technologies for life sciences & chemistry. Besides the exciting scientific program and great presentations, social/networking events (welcome reception, student mixer, women night out, and conference banquet) have made MicroTAS 2018 conference an unforgettable one. In this article, we would like to share some of the conference highlights with our Lab on a Chip blog readers.

 

 

Unraveling endothelial cell phenotypic regulation by spatial hemodynamic flows with microfluidics 

Sarvesh Varma, Guillermo Garcia-Cardena, & Joel Voldman

Did you know that artery bifurcations are prone to atherosclerosis? Blood flow profiles in vessels can help us to gain insights towards atherosclerosis. In this work, the authors fabricated a soft microdevice to study the effects of helical and chaotic flows on endothelial cells located in vein walls. They hypothesized and demonstrated that a helical (uniform) flow profile results in endothelial cells aligning upstream to flow and gain atheroprotective properties, while the chaotic flow results in misalignment of cells that give rise to atherosclerosis.

The figure shows the morphological adaptations of cells in response to distinct spatial flows, scale bars are 0.1 mm.

 

 

glass-like polymer

 

3D printing of microfluidic glass reactors 

Patrick Risch, Frederik Kotz, Dorothea Helmer & Bastian Rapp

Microfluidic devices are mostly made from PDMS, although this material is not always well-suited for thermal, optical, mechanical and chemical changes. In this work, the authors present a new resin formulation to inspire the 3D printing of glass, which is more durable than PDMS. The resin was fabricated using stereolithography printer and this technique is useful for rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices made from glass for optical detection or chemical reaction applications.

A 3D gradient generator is shown in this figure, scale bar is 2 mm.

 

A Tetris-like modular microfluidic platform for mimicking multi-organ interactions 

Louis Ong Jun Ye, Terry Chng, Chong Lor Huai, Seep Li Huan & Toh Yi-Chin

Modularization is undoubtedly on the rise in microfluidics and this work demonstrates an interesting approach. The authors focused on solving ‘limited compatibility with existing devices‘ problem. To achieve that, ring magnets were utilized to connect different parts of PDMS building blocks that were previously fabricated using micro molds. A modular platform assembled using this approach was shown to culture cells as a proof-of-concept study. The platform is expected to allow facile configuration of complex experimental set-ups involving multiple tissues.

The image shows a modular device (left), and its parts (right) connected each other via magnets, scale bars are 1 cm.

 

 

A magneto-switchable superhydrophobic surface for droplet manipulation

Chao Yang & Gang Li

Surface hydrophobicity is an important feature when it comes to bio and chemical applications. In this work, magneto switchable micro-pillars were made from PDMS and carbonyl iron particles. The pillars erect under influence of a magnetic field, resulting in subsequent switching of the wettability and adhesion of the surface between the water-repellent and water-adhesive states. The surface becomes superhydrophobic (water-repellent) when the magnetic field is applied. The authors demonstrated droplet lifting and transportation on a surface using this approach.

The image depicts the effect of an external magnetic field on the stiffness of micro-pillars.

 

About the Web writer

Burcu Gumuscu is a postdoctoral fellow in Herr Lab at UC Berkeley in the United States. Her research interests include the development of microfluidic devices for quantitative analysis of proteins from single-cells, next-generation sequencing, compartmentalized organ-on-chip studies, and desalination of water on the microscale.

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MicroTAS 2014 abstracts are available!

Lab on a Chip presents uTAS Abstracts 2003 to 2014:

The page link below gives the lab on a chip/microfluidics/μTAS communities free access to both current and archived content submitted to the μTAS conferences in the form of extended abstracts. This service will support workers in finding essential references and hence increase knowledge of past work in the field and assist with current and future research.

Abstracts are available through the following link: http://rsc.li/1eYWXQs

This archive includes abstracts presented at uTAS meetings from 2003 to present and essentially provides easy web access to the abstract discs supplied at the uTAS meetings.

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MicroTas abstracts are now online!

Lab on a Chip presents uTAS Abstracts 2003 to Present:

The page link below gives the lab on a chip/microfluidics/uTAS communities FREE ACCESS to both current and archived content submitted to the uTAS conferences in the form of extended abstracts. It is hoped that this service will support workers in finding essential references and hence increase knowledge of past work in the field and assist with current and future research.

This archive includes abstracts presented at uTAS meetings from 2003 to present and essentially provides easy web access to the abstract discs supplied at the uTAS meetings.


CLICK HERE for abstracts! http://rsc.li/1eYWXQs

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microTAS 2010 abstracts now available for free online!

Thanks to the Chemical and Biological Miniaturisation Society (CBMS) Lab on a Chip is pleased to offer free access to the microTAS  abstracts from the 2010 conference in Groningen, The Netherlands.

The microTAS meeting abstracts from 2003-2010 can be found on our website here as click-through pdf files.

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Free microTAS Abstracts

Once more Lab on a Chip plays a pivotal role in supporting the Lab-on-a-Chip community by providing FREE Access (thanks to CBMS) to microTAS abstracts from 2003 to 2009 (2010 available soon!).

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