Archive for 2012

A message from the Optofluidics 2012 organizers

Dear Colleagues,

Optofluidics 2012 will be held in Suzhou on 13-14 September 2012. The deadline for abstract submission has been extended to 1 August 2012.

This year’s meeting will see more than 20 speakers presenting world-class research in the field of optofluidics. The meeting will not only focus on the latest research impacts in optofluidics, but will also explore multi-disciplinary research between optofluidics with basic science and high potential applications such as biomedical devices, the environment and energy, etc.

All conference papers will be considered for publication in the themed issue on Optofluidics in Lab on a Chip after the meeting.

Looking forward to meeting you in Suzhou,

Dr Albert Yu Bai, Co-Chair (Local Organizer)
Dr Li Ming Sun, Co-Chair (Local Organizer)

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Submicron particle focussing, 3D capillary networks & monitoring cell signalling in Issue 16

We’ve got some great artwork on the covers of Issue 16,  on topics from particle focusing to creating 3D capillary networks and cell signalling.

Lateral migration and focusing of colloidal particles and DNA molecules under viscoelastic flowOn the outside front cover we have a HOT article from Ju Min Kim et al who have achieved viscoelasticity-driven focusing of particles as small as 200 nm – a technique which had previously only been achieved with micron-sized particles.  The team also showed that DNA focusing is significantly enhanced by medium viscoelasticity and that the focussing of both the colloidal particles and DNA is dependant on length.

Lateral migration and focusing of colloidal particles and DNA molecules under viscoelastic flow
Jae Young Kim, Sung Won Ahn, Sung Sik Lee and Ju Min Kim
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40147A

In vitro formation and characterization of a perfusable three-dimensional tubular capillary network in microfluidic devicesOn the inside front cover is another HOT article from Noo Li Jeon and colleagues at Seoul University who have designed a 3D array of perfusable capillaries from HUVECs.  The the capillary network can be grown on the microfluidic device in 3-4 days and the authors hope will not only be useful for basic angiogenesis research but also drug screening applications.

In vitro formation and characterization of a perfusable three-dimensional tubular capillary network in microfluidic devices
Ju Hun Yeon, Hyun Ryul Ryu, Minhwan Chung, Qing Ping Hu and Noo Li Jeon
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40131B

Microfluidically-unified cell culture, sample preparation, imaging and flow cytometry for measurement of cell signaling pathways with single cell resolutionLast but not least, on the back cover is research from Anup Singh and colleagues at Sandia National Laboratory who have developed a chip that enables dynamic monitoring of an entire cell signalling pathway in a single experiment, by combining cell culture, stimulation, and preparation for analysis by multicolor flow cytometry and fluorescence imaging in one device.

Microfluidically-unified cell culture, sample preparation, imaging and flow cytometry for measurement of cell signaling pathways with single cell resolution
Meiye Wu, Thomas D. Perroud, Nimisha Srivastava, Catherine S. Branda, Kenneth L. Sale, Bryan D. Carson, Kamlesh D. Patel, Steven S. Branda and Anup K. Singh
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40344G

As with all our cover articles these are free to access for 6 weeks (following a simple registration for an RSC Publishing account).

For more exciting miniaturisation research take a look at the rest of the issue

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Our content, straight to your inbox

Did you know that following a simple sign up, you could receive our table-of-contents e-alerts straight to your inbox? Once subscribed, you’ll receive your requested journals’ alerts each issue, meaning that you’ll never miss important research again!

Register today, and receive notification of great content like the below, quickly and easily.

Paper
A combined micromagnetic-microfluidic device for rapid capture and culture of rare circulating tumor cells
Joo H. Kang, Silva Krause, Heather Tobin, Akiko Mammoto, Mathumai Kanapathipillai and Donald E. Ingber
Lab Chip, 2012,12, 2175-2181
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40072C

Critical Review
Commercialization of microfluidic point-of-care diagnostic devices
Curtis D. Chin, Vincent Linder and Samuel K. Sia
Lab Chip, 2012,12, 2118-2134
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21204H

Communication
“Fluidic batteries” as low-cost sources of power in paper-based microfluidic devices
Nicole K. Thom, Kimy Yeung, Marley B. Pillion and Scott T. Phillips
Lab Chip, 2012,12, 1768-1770
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40126F

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HOT article: Ion diode logics for pH control

This week’s HOT article is by Magnus Berggren and co-workers at Linköping University, Sweden. The paper presents three different designs of micro-fabricated ion bipolar membrane diodes (IBMDs), which the authors demonstrate overcoming some of the problems of traditional fast switching ion diodes, such as accumulation of ions inside the device structure.

The first two designs are bipolar membranes which are capable of either splitting water or providing high current rectification. The third design incorporates the previous two, connecting the bipolar membranes in series, meaning that suppression of ion accumulation is achieved.

Ion diode logics for pH control
Erik O. Gabrielsson, Klas Tybrandt and Magnus Berggren
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40093F

This HOT article is free to access for the next four weeks following a simple registration for individual users.

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New YouTube videos

View the new videos on the Lab on a Chip YouTube site using the links below:

Electro-optical BLM chips enabling dynamic imaging of ordered lipid domains

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Microscopy imaging and quantitative phase contrast mapping in turbid microfluidic channels by digital holography

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Direct-writing colloidal photonic crystal microfluidic chips by inkjet printing for label-free protein detection

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Unveiling the missing transport mechanism inside the valveless micropump

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Construction of multifunctional photonic crystal microcapsules with tunable shell structures by combining microfluidic and controlled photopolymerization

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Inverted open microwells for cell trapping, cell aggregate formation and parallel recovery of live cells

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Microfluidic sorting of arbitrary cells with dynamic optical tweezers

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III International Workshop on Analytical Miniaturization and NANOtechnologies

LOC recently published a themed issue on nanomaterials and technologies for lab on a chip applications in collaboration with WAM-NANO2012 – the III International Workshop on Analytical Miniaturization and NANOtechnologies.

The conference was held last month in Barcelona, and below Arben Merkoçi provides a short summary of the meeting:

III International Workshop on Analytical Miniaturization and NANOtechnologiesThe “III International Workshop on Analytical Miniaturization and NANOtechnologies (WAM-NANO2012)” was held in Barcelona, Spain on 11 and 12 June 2012. The event, organised by the Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology (ICN), highlighted the latest international developments in the use of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials for the design and applications of lab-on-a-chip (LOC) systems and other miniaturised analytical (bio)systems. The workshop, together with a themed issue of Lab-on-a-Chip, entitled “Nanotechnologies and nanomaterials in lab-on-a-chip”, reported on the most important achievements in analytical miniaturisation, where nanotechnology is positioned to enable great advances.

WAM-NANO2012 drew 85 participants from a dozen countries and featured 19 talks by invited speakers, 42 posters, and exhibits by three companies in the field (Fluigent, MicruX Technologies and Invenios). The event began with an opening presentation by Workshop Director Prof Arben Merkoçi, who heads the Nanobioelectronics and Biosensors Group at ICN.

Invited speakers at WAM-NANO2012:

Yoshinobu Baba (Dept. Applied Chemistry, Nagoya University, Japan)
Nanobiodevice-based single biomolecule and cell analysis for cancer diagnosis and stem cell therapy

Emanuel Carrilho (Bioanalytical, Microfabrication and Separations Group, Instituto de Química de Sao Carlos/ Universidade de Sao Paulo, Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia de Bioanalitica, Sao Carlos Brasil)
New strategies for contactless conductivity detection in microfluidic systems and electrophoresis

Agustín Costa García (University of Oviedo, Spain)
Nanotechnological approaches for improvement of microchip electrophoresis devices

Emmanuel Delamarche (IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, Switzerland)
Miniaturized assays using capillary-driven microfluidics

Tatsuro Endo (Analytical Chemistry research Group, Department of Applied Chemistry, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan)
Printed two dimensional photonic crystal for single step label-free biosensor

Alberto Escarpa (University of Alcalà, Spain)
High NIR-purity index single-walled carbon nanotubes for electrochemical sensing in microfluidic chips

Carlos García (University of Texas at San Antonio, USA)
Microchips, robots, and nanomaterials: novel strategies for the analysis of biologically active compounds

Akihide Hibara (Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan)
Chemistry and physics of liquid interfaces in microfluidic devices

Alexander Kuhn (ENSCBP, University of Bordeaux, France)
Bipolar electrochemistry in microfluidic channels

Jörg P. Kutter (DTU Nanotech, Department of Micro- and Nanotechnology, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark)
Carbon nanotubes for applications in miniaturized separation systems

Laura Lechuga (Centre d’Investigacions en Nanociencia i Nanotecnologia, CIN2 (CSIC-ICN), Barcelona, Spain)
Photonic lab-on-a-chip platforms including novel bimodal interferometers, microfluidics and grating couplers

Arben Merkoçi (Institut Català de Nanotecnologia, ICN, Barcelona, Spain)
Nanoparticles based microfluidics (bio)sensing

Bradley J. Nelson (Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Fabrication and magnetic actuation of polymer helical microswimmers coated with a soft magnetic film

Mar Puyol (Dept. Chemistry, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain)
Microfluidic platforms for nanoparticles synthesis and bioanalytical sensing

Johan Roeraade (Dept. Analytical Chemistry, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)
New miniaturized technologies for mass spectrometry of biomolecules

Oliver Schmidt (Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research (IFW) Dresden, Germany)
Rolled-up nanotech for lab-in-a-tube systems and microjet engines

Albert Van der Berg (University of Twente, Twente, The Netherlands)
Labs on a chip for medical applications

Jean-Louis Viovy (Macromolecules and microsystems in biology and medicine (MMBM), Institute Curie, Paris, France)
Neuron arrays on chip to study neurodegenrative diseases

Joseph Wang (Dept. Nanoengineering, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), USA)
Nanomotor-based biosensing: towards nanomachine-based lab-on-chips

View the whole issue here

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Top ten most accessed articles in May

This month sees the following articles in Lab on a Chip that are in the top ten most accessed:

Microengineered physiological biomimicry: Organs-on-Chips
Dongeun Huh, Yu-suke Torisawa, Geraldine A. Hamilton, Hyun Jung Kim and Donald E. Ingber
Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 2156-2164
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40089H

Lab on a Chip: United States of America
Donald E. Ingber and George M. Whitesides
Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 2089-2090
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC90052A

Integrated rapid-diagnostic-test reader platform on a cellphone
Onur Mudanyali, Stoyan Dimitrov, Uzair Sikora, Swati Padmanabhan, Isa Navruz and Aydogan Ozcan
Lab Chip, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40235A

High-throughput immunoassay through in-channel microfluidic patterning
Chunhong Zheng, Jingwen Wang, Yuhong Pang, Jianbin Wang, Wenbin Li, Zigang Ge and Yanyi Huang
Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 2487-2490
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40145B

Microfluidic synthesis of multifunctional Janus particles for biomedical applications
Shikuan Yang, Feng Guo, Brian Kiraly, Xiaole Mao, Mengqian Lu, Kam W. Leong and Tony Jun Huang
Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 2097-2102
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC90046G

Commercialization of microfluidic point-of-care diagnostic devices
Curtis D. Chin, Vincent Linder and Samuel K. Sia
Lab Chip, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21204H

Contributors to the USA issue
Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 2091-2093
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC90053J

Diagnostic microchip to assay 3D colony-growth potential of captured circulating tumor cells
Colette A. Bichsel, Samy Gobaa, Stefan Kobel, Chiara Secondini, George N. Thalmann, Marco G. Cecchini and Matthias P. Lutolf
Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 2313-2316
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40130D

Microfluidic approaches for cancer cell detection, characterization, and separation
Jian Chen, Jason Li and Yu Sun
Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 1753-1767
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21273K

Microfluidic Apps for off-the-shelf instruments
Daniel Mark, Felix von Stetten and Roland Zengerle
Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 2464-2468
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC00043A

Why not take a look at the articles today and blog your thoughts and comments below.

Fancy submitting an article to Lab on a Chip? Then why not submit to us today or alternatively email us your suggestions.

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HOT article: microfluidic polyplex preparation on a chip

Researchers at Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, have developed a new technique for the production of polyplexes that produces more regular sized complexes compared to the standard pipetting methods. Polyplexes are the complexes that form by electrostatic interactions of oppositely charged macromolecules – in this case poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) and plasmid DNA, which are used in gene therapy applications.

The group, led by Thomas Kissel, developed a method that produces the complexes using microfluidics on a chip. Over the course of the study, they investigated the factors that could affect the complex size, and discovered that the most important factor was the ratio of PEI to DNA, whilst other factors were not as important. Using the chip method, regular sized complexes (140 nm and 160 nm) were produced, compared to the more irregular pipetting method. The team also showed that different (targeted) PEI-based vectors could be used for the formation of complexes with pDNA and siRNA.

Read the details of the study here:

Optimized preparation of pDNA/poly(ethylene imine) polyplexes using a microfluidic system
Heiko Debus, Moritz Beck-Broichsitter and Thomas Kissel
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40176B

This HOT article is free to access for the next four weeks following a simple registration for individual users.

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Have you seen the best of LOC?

The Editors at Lab on a Chip have been busy picking out the top 10% from all our high quality papers to bring you a collection of recent articles that we think will be of exceptional significance for the miniaturisation community.

Papers in this category will have received excellent reports during peer review, and demonstrate a breakthrough in device technology, methodology or demonstrate important new results for chemistry, physics, biology or bioengineering enabled by miniaturisation.

Here are the papers that have caught our eye so far:

Frontier
Microengineered physiological biomimicry: Organs-on-Chips
Dongeun Huh, Yu-suke Torisawa, Geraldine A. Hamilton, Hyun Jung Kim and Donald E. Ingber
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40089H

Focus
Education: a microfluidic platform for university-level analytical chemistry laboratories
Jesse Greener, Ethan Tumarkin, Michael Debono, Andrew P. Dicks and Eugenia Kumacheva
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC20951A

Tutorial Review
Brain slice on a chip: opportunities and challenges of applying microfluidic technology to intact tissues
Yu Huang, Justin C. Williams and Stephen M. Johnson
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21142D

Critical Review
Engineers are from PDMS-land, Biologists are from Polystyrenia
Erwin Berthier, Edmond W. K. Young and David Beebe
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC20982A

Communications
“Fluidic batteries” as low-cost sources of power in paper-based microfluidic devices
Nicole K. Thom, Kimy Yeung, Marley B. Pillion and Scott T. Phillips
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40126F

Sorting cells by size, shape and deformability
Jason P. Beech, Stefan H. Holm, Karl Adolfsson and Jonas O. Tegenfeldt
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21083E

Papers
High throughput automated chromatin immunoprecipitation as a platform for drug screening and antibody validation
Angela R. Wu, Tiara L.A. Kawahara, Nicole A. Rapicavoli, Jan van Riggelen, Emelyn H. Shroff, Liwen Xu, Dean W. Felsher, Howard Y. Chang and Stephen R. Quake
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21290K

A microfluidic device for whole-animal drug screening using electrophysiological measures in the nematode C. elegans
Shawn R. Lockery, S. Elizabeth Hulme, William M. Roberts, Kristin J. Robinson, Anna Laromaine, Theodore H. Lindsay, George M. Whitesides and Janis C. Weeks
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC00001F

Ion diode logics for pH control
Erik O. Gabrielsson, Klas Tybrandt and Magnus Berggren
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40093F

Human gut-on-a-chip inhabited by microbial flora that experiences intestinal peristalsis-like motions and flow
Hyun Jung Kim, Dongeun Huh, Geraldine Hamilton and Donald E. Ingber
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40074J

A multifunctional pipette
Alar Ainla, Gavin D. M. Jeffries, Ralf Brune, Owe Orwar and Aldo Jesorka
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC20906C

Visualization of microscale particle focusing in diluted and whole blood using particle trajectory analysis
Eugene J. Lim, Thomas J. Ober, Jon F. Edd, Gareth H. McKinley and Mehmet Toner
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21100A

DNA electrophoresis in a nanofence array
Sung-Gyu Park, Daniel W. Olson and Kevin D. Dorfman
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC00016D

Bipolar electrochemistry for cargo-lifting in fluid channels
Gabriel Loget and Alexander Kuhn
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21301J

Rapid screening of antibiotic toxicity in an automated microdroplet system
Krzysztof Churski, Tomasz S. Kaminski, Slawomir Jakiela, Wojciech Kamysz, Wioletta Baranska-Rybak, Douglas B. Weibel and Piotr Garstecki
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21284F

Dual-electrode microfluidic cell for characterizing electrocatalysts
Ioana Dumitrescu, David F. Yancey and Richard M. Crooks
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21181E

Rapid, sensitive, and multiplexed on-chip optical sensors for micro-gas chromatography
Karthik Reddy, Yunbo Guo, Jing Liu, Wonsuk Lee, Maung Kyaw Khaing Oo and Xudong Fan
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC20922E

A silicone-based stretchable micropost array membrane for monitoring live-cell subcellular cytoskeletal response
Jennifer M. Mann, Raymond H. W. Lam, Shinuo Weng, Yubing Sun and Jianping Fu
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC20896B

Batch fabrication of disposable screen printed SERS arrays
Lu-Lu Qu, Da-Wei Li, Jin-Qun Xue, Wen-Lei Zhai, John S. Fossey and Yi-Tao Long
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC20926H

Bubbles no more: in-plane trapping and removal of bubbles in microfluidic devices
Conrad Lochovsky, Sanjesh Yasotharan and Axel Günther
DOI: 10.1039/C1LC20817A

A digital microfluidic method for multiplexed cell-based apoptosis assays
Dario Bogojevic, M. Dean Chamberlain, Irena Barbulovic-Nad and Aaron R. Wheeler
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC20893H

Technical Innovation
Three-dimensional microfiber devices that mimic physiological environments to probe cell mechanics and signaling
Warren C. Ruder, Erica D. Pratt, Sasha Bakhru, Metin Sitti, Stefan Zappe, Chao-Min Cheng, James F. Antaki and Philip R. LeDuc
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21117C

We will be adding to this collection throughout the year so keep checking back for more outstanding articles!

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New YouTube videos

View the new videos on the Lab on a Chip YouTube site using the links below:

High-yield cell ordering and deterministic cell-in-droplet encapsulation using Dean flow in a curved microchannel

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Limits of miniaturization: Assessing ITP performance in sub-micron and nanochannels

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In vitro angiogenesis assay for the study of cell-encapsulation therapy

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