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Development of a point-of-care DVD HIV diagnostic device published in Lab on a Chip has been featured on The Guardian’s Global Development Network.

The team led by Aman Russom at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden present a new lab on a DVD for rapid, cheap HIV diagnosis. They modify a commercial DVD drive for this purpose, giving a laser scanning microscope termed DVD-LSM. 

A multi-layer disc is combined with the modified DVD reader that allows temperature control. A fluidic polymer disc bonded to the DVD enables sample processing. Fluid propulsion is incorporated, a photodiode array is present for detection and all of the software for processing  is driven by a PC. The system enables imaging of biomolecules to 1  μm resolution.

A low level of CD4+ cells is the marker used to decide upon HIV treatment. The surface of the disc is functionalised with anti-CD4 antibodies to allow the system to detect and count stained CD4+ cells.

The combination of robust fluidic sample handling, detection capability and sub-micron resolution imaging means this fully integrated device is a hugely important step towards practical point-of-care Lab-on-DVD diagnostics. The team aim to reduce the sample preparation steps to simplify the procedure.

You can read the Guardian Global Development Network article here or skip straight to the full fascinating and clearly written Lab on a Chip article.

Lab-on-DVD: standard DVD drives as a novel laser scanning microscope for image based point of care diagnostics
Harisha Ramachandraiah, Mary Amasia, Jackie Cole, Paul Sheard, Simon Pickhaver, Chris Walker, Valtteri Wirta, Preben Lexow, Richard Lione and Aman Russom 
DOI: 10.1039/C3LC41360H

 We’re extremely pleased to report that Ali Khademhosseini, the writer of Research Highlights articles in Lab on a Chip, has been awarded the Young Investigator Award from the Controlled Release Society.

The award is for a young CRS member who has made an outstanding contribution to the science of controlled release and drug delivery. Ali will be presented with the award in July at the annual CRS meeting in Hawaii.

View some of his most recent Research Highlights articles here:

Research highlights
Imee G. Arcibal, Donald M. Cropek, Mehmet R. Dokmeci and Ali Khademhosseini 
DOI: 10.1039/C3LC90037A

Research highlights
João Ribas, Mark W. Tibbitt, Mehmet R. Dokmeci and Ali Khademhosseini
DOI: 10.1039/C3LC90032K

Research highlights
Šeila Selimović, Mehmet R. Dokmeci and Ali Khademhosseini
DOI: 10.1039/C3LC90025H

Research highlights
Šeila Selimović, Mark W. Tibbitt, Mehmet R. Dokmeci and Ali Khademhosseini
DOI: 10.1039/C3LC90018E

The 10^th International Workshop on Nanomechanical Sensing will be taking place from next Wednesday 1^st May until 3^rd May in Stanford, California USA.

This year the workshop is focused on interdisciplinary research on and with nanoscale sensors.

NMC started in 2004 as the “nano mechanical cantilever” meeting but has grown along with innovations in nanomechanics and probing at the nanoscale. NMC focuses on new developments, investigations, applications of cantilever-based sensors, cantilever systems engineering and the mission has expanded to all modes of nanomechanical sensing to include applications such as chemical sensing, biosensing, scanning probes and metrologies, optomechanics, nanomechanics, resonant sensing, and the associated modeling and experiments, etc.

NMC brings together companies and academia to present their latest results in a lively and personal atmosphere. NMC2013 will provide a single session technical program with the latest research on nanosensing including renowned invited speakers, contributed oral and poster presentations, and excellent networking opportunities.

http://www.nmc2013.org/

Tony Huang, writer of a series of Lab on a Chip Focus review articles, has been awarded a 2013 Faculty Scholar Medal by his institution, Penn State University. This Medal is awarded in recognition of his outstanding research in the area of microfluidic engineering, in particular acoustofluidics. His most recent work on optoacoustic tweezers is available to read in Lab on a Chip:

Optoacoustic tweezers: a programmable, localized cell concentrator based on opto-thermally generated, acoustically activated, surface bubbles
Yuliang Xie, Chenglong Zhao, Yanhui Zhao, Sixing Li, Joseph Rufo, Shikuan Yang, Feng Guo and Tony Jun Huang
DOI: 10.1039/C3LC00043E

Tony continues to write a series of varied and fascinating Focus articles published in Lab on a Chip on a regular basis, with topics from the unconventional uses of microfluidic technologies and applications of acoustofluidics through to imaging, circulating tumour cells, diagnostics and mechanical biomarkers:

Unconventional microfluidics: expanding the discipline
Ahmad Ahsan Nawaz, Xiaole Mao, Zackary S. Stratton and Tony Jun Huang
DOI: 10.1039/C3LC90023A

Probing circulating tumor cells in microfluidics
Peng Li, Zackary S. Stratton, Ming Dao, Jerome Ritz and Tony Jun Huang
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC90148J

Optofluidic imaging: now and beyond
Yanhui Zhao, Zackary S. Stratton, Feng Guo, Michael Ian Lapsley, Chung Yu Chan, Sz-Chin Steven Lin and Tony Jun Huang
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC90127G

Exploiting mechanical biomarkers in microfluidics
Xiaole Mao and Tony Jun Huang
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC90100E

Join Chemistry World and Advion for a webcast on the latest developments in HPTLC technology.

WHAT: Professor Morlock from the University of Giessen, Germany, will give an overview of current HPTLC methodology, explore some examples of HPTLC-MS coupling and review other current hyphenations in HPTLC. By the end of this free webinar, you will be able to:
- Recognise the power of modern HPTLC
- Learn about current hyphenations in HPTLC
- Understand the principle of elution-based HPTLC-MS
- Recognise how HPTLC hyphenations efficiently support analyses

WHEN: Wednesday, 20 March 2013 – 15:00 GMT

HOW: Click here to register (free)

Register today, even if you can’t make it on 20^th March, and we’ll send you a link to the recorded webinar.