scholarly journals Desktop Fabrication of Lab-On-Chip Devices on Flexible Substrates: A Brief Review

Micromachines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Zaman Qamar ◽  
Mohtashim Hassan Shamsi

Flexible microfluidic devices are currently in demand because they can be mass-produced in resource-limited settings using simple and inexpensive fabrication tools. Finding new ways to fabricate microfluidic platforms on flexible substrates has been a hot area. Integration of customized detection tools for different lab-on-chip applications has made this area challenging. Significant advancements have occurred in the area over the last decade; therefore, there is a need to review such interesting fabrication tools employed on flexible substrates, such as paper and plastics. In this short review, we review individual fabrication tools and their combinations that have been used to develop such platforms in the past five years. These tools are not only simple and low-cost but also require minimal skills for their operation. Moreover, key examples of plastic-based flexible substrates are also presented, because a diverse range of plastic materials have prevailed recently for a variety of lab-on-chip applications. This review should attract audience of various levels, i.e., from hobbyists to scientists, and from high school students to postdoctoral researchers, to produce their own flexible devices in their own settings.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liudi not provided not provided Luo ◽  
Bryce W Hina ◽  
Brennan W McFarland ◽  
Jillian C Saunders ◽  
Natalie Smolin ◽  
...  

Although the field of neurotechnology is predicted to grow at a tremendous rate and become a part of our everyday lives, we have not witnessed an equivalent growth rate in neuroscience education at the high school level. This represents a missed opportunity to have an educated public that understands the application and benefits of these technologies, as well as educated students who are able to fill the predicted demand in neurotechnology jobs.There exists a need for hands-on, active learning-based approaches for demonstrating neurotechnology and neuroscience principles to high school students. Here, we describe how to build a low-cost assay and how to run a high school workshop to introduce students to a particular neurotechnology: optogenetics. In the workshop, students use light to activate different neurons in the nervous system of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and use their own cell phone to capture and annotate the behaviors driven by each type of neuron.Our workshop can be adopted in outreach programs to provide a low-cost hands-on learning tool to demonstrate optogenetics and neuroscience concepts to high school classrooms. Additionally, the optogenetics assay may be adopted by resource limited labs looking to perform optogenetics experiments.


2021 ◽  
pp. 104687812110326
Author(s):  
Adeel Arif ◽  
Amber Arif ◽  
Kimberly Anne Fasciglione ◽  
Farrukh Nadeem Jafri

Abstract: Background Locations concentrated with High School (HS) students tend to have lower out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival rates. Mobile applications (apps) have the capability to augment cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skill retention as a low-cost, accessible training method. Methods An iterative process to develop an app to reinforce CPR skills emphasizing hand placement, compression rate, real-time feedback, and recurring tips is described. The app was tested on HS students to measure its impact on quality and comfort of CPR using Likert surveys and skills assessments before and after one month of usage. CPR Score and compression rate were measured using the Laerdal™ Little Anne Manikin QCPR software. Results Fourteen HS students participated in a prospective observational study. It was found that the use of the developed app was associated with improved CPR performance (80.43% v. 87.86%, p=0.01-0.02, 95% CI=2.20-12.66) after one month. Additionally, improvements were demonstrated in compression rate accuracy (21.43% v. 64.29%, p=0.041, 95% CI=0.132-0.725), increased comfort performing CPR (3.86 v. 4.79, p<0.001, 95% CI =0.99-1.00) and comfort performing CPR on strangers (2.71 v. 4.42, p<0.001, 95% CI=1.24-2.19). In addition, for every time the app was used, CPR performance increased by 0.5668% (p=0.0182). Conclusion Findings suggest that mobile apps may have promising implications as augmentative tools for CPR curriculums.


Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1467
Author(s):  
Harry Dawson ◽  
Jinane Elias ◽  
Pascal Etienne ◽  
Sylvie Calas-Etienne

The integration of optical circuits with microfluidic lab-on-chip (LoC) devices has resulted in a new era of potential in terms of both sample manipulation and detection at the micro-scale. On-chip optical components increase both control and analytical capabilities while reducing reliance on expensive laboratory photonic equipment that has limited microfluidic development. Notably, in-situ LoC devices for bio-chemical applications such as diagnostics and environmental monitoring could provide great value as low-cost, portable and highly sensitive systems. Multiple challenges remain however due to the complexity involved with combining photonics with micro-fabricated systems. Here, we aim to highlight the progress that optical on-chip systems have made in recent years regarding the main LoC applications: (1) sample manipulation and (2) detection. At the same time, we aim to address the constraints that limit industrial scaling of this technology. Through evaluating various fabrication methods, material choices and novel approaches of optic and fluidic integration, we aim to illustrate how optic-enabled LoC approaches are providing new possibilities for both sample analysis and manipulation.


2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew L. Clow ◽  
Rainer Künnemeyer ◽  
Paul Gaynor ◽  
John C. Sharpe

2008 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Bianchessi ◽  
Sarah Burgarella ◽  
Marco Cereda

The development of new powerful applications and the improvement in fabrication techniques are promising an explosive growth in lab-on-chip use in the upcoming future. As the demand reaches significant levels, the semiconductor industry may enter in the field, bringing its capability to produce complex devices in large volumes, high quality and low cost. The lab-on-chip concept, when applied to medicine, leads to the point-of-care concept, where simple, compact and cheap instruments allow diagnostic assays to be performed quickly by untrained personnel directly at the patient's side. In this paper, some practical and economical considerations are made to support the advantages of point-of-care testing. A series of promising technologies developed by STMicroelectronics on lab-on-chips is also presented, mature enough to enter in the common medical practice. The possible use of these techniques for cancer research, diagnosis and treatment are illustrated together with the benefits offered by their implementation in point-of-care testing.


Lab on a Chip ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 4738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Lemine Youba Diakité ◽  
Jerôme Champ ◽  
Stephanie Descroix ◽  
Laurent Malaquin ◽  
François Amblard ◽  
...  

IEEE Access ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 70733-70745
Author(s):  
Yumin Liao ◽  
Ningmei Yu ◽  
Dian Tian ◽  
Chen Wang ◽  
Shuaijun Li ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Wei Xu ◽  
Hong Xue ◽  
Mark Bachman ◽  
G. P. Li

Microflow valving and regulating are two important functions for microfluidic systems for applications such as Lab-on-Chip. Although silicon based counterparts have been studied extensively, few good technologies exist for polymer based microvalves and regulators. In this paper, we present designs and methods for microvalve and microflow regulators that are readily integrated into polymer microfluidic devices. The technologies utilize “air-pocket” structures built into the sidewalls of the microchannels. When liquid is filled in such a channel, air is trapped in “air pocket” structures due to the hydrophobicity of the polymer. By creating a small thermal gradient between the fluid in the channel and the air in the pockets, one can controllably evaporate fluid into the air pocket where it condenses. This displaces air out of the pocket into the flow channel, increasing the resistance to flow. The air valve retreats to its original pocket when the temperature gradient is removed, thus allowing one to increase or decrease fluid flow at will. If the temperature gradient is maintained long enough, the air will completely block the channel, forming an irreversible valving of the flow. Therefore, the same device can be used as either a valve or flow-regulating device. Microfluidic prototypes were built and tested using this technology. The results show successful constant flow delivery as well as valve function. This novel vapor based microflow valve and regulator has advantages of low cost, simple design, and both ease of fabrication and integration.


2013 ◽  
Vol 448-453 ◽  
pp. 396-401
Author(s):  
Nuno Miguel Matos Pires ◽  
Tao Dong

Routine analysis of steroid hormones in environmental water samples demands for cost-effective tools that can detect multiple targets simultaneously. This study reports a high-throughput polymer platform integrated to polymer optical sensors for on-site monitoring of hormones in water. This opto-microfluidic device concept is fully compatible to low-cost fabrication methods. A competitive chemiluminescence immunoassay was performed onto gold thin film coated chambers, and a detection resolution of roughly 0.2 ng/mL was obtained using 17β-estradiol as the model target. Furthermore, the integrated polymer platform showed good recovery for the estradiol target when spiked in surface water samples.


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