Lab on a Chip最新文献

{"title":"Wearable and implantable microfluidic technologies for future digital therapeutics","authors":"Sanghoon Lee, Won Gi Chung, Enji Kim, Eunmin Kim, Joonho Paek, Dayeon Kim, Seung Hyun An, Taekyeong Lee, Jung Ah Lim and Jang-Ung Park","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00525F","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00525F","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Microfluidic technology, originally developed for lab-on-a-chip applications, has rapidly expanded into wearable and implantable biomedical systems, enabling precise fluid handling for real-time biosensing, targeted drug delivery, and closed-loop therapeutics. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in microfluidic platforms designed for integration with the human body, focusing on both wearable devices and implantable systems. Key design strategies are highlighted, including the integration of microfluidics with soft electronics, wireless communication, and multimodal sensing to enhance mechanical adaptability and functional versatility in dynamic biological environments. In addition, three critical technological directions for advancing digital therapeutics are discussed, particularly focusing on system-level stretchability, multimodal module integration, and artificial intelligence-driven data processing. These capabilities will serve as the foundation for transforming current microfluidic systems into intelligent, autonomous platforms, which will play a pivotal role in shaping future digital therapeutics that are personalized, responsive, and seamlessly integrated into everyday healthcare.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 18","pages":" 4508-4541"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144870437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An open source for multiplexed, stable and transient flows to advance life sciences using microfluidic control automation","authors":"Junichi Murai, Mahmoud N. Abdelmoez, Keisuke Kondo, Kohei Takamuro, Keiji Nozaki, Tim Schiller, Thomas R. Scheibel, Keiji Numata, Hisano Yajima, Kanako Terakado Kimura, Takao Hashiguchi, Taikopaul Kaneko, Misa Minegishi and Hirofumi Shintaku","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00551E","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00551E","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Multiplexed fluid control is a demanding task in various studies in life sciences and bioengineering. Herein, we present open-source microfluidic sequence automation (MiSA) that offers flexible and multiplexed fluid control for various applications, providing constant flow <em>via</em> pressure-based feedback control with 10-plex capability and pulsed flow on the order of 100 ms. MiSA was self-contained, including a pressure source, and employed an Arduino Micro to integrate ten solenoid valves, an off-the-shelf pressure regulator, and a flow sensor to balance cost and reliability. To offer stable microflow control, especially at a low flow rate under low flow resistance, MiSA used a potentiometer that tuned the range of the pressure control by leveraging the full 8-bit output from the Arduino Micro applied to the pressure regulator. We demonstrated the practical use of MiSA for multiplexed chemical reactions by performing hybridization-based <em>in situ</em> sequencing. To demonstrate the flexibility of MiSA, we showed the extensions of our system for two pressure regulations under open-loop control in flow rate by revealing three independent applications: droplet generation, microfluidic spinning of spider silk fiber, and atomization of protein solution. We envision that this open source will offer resources for researchers to explore microfluidic applications rapidly with an affordable investment.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 20","pages":" 5302-5317"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144936569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of sequential bifurcations on the cell-free layer of healthy and rigid red blood cells","authors":"Yazdan Rashidi, Christian Wagner and Steffen M. Recktenwald","doi":"10.1039/D4LC00865K","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4LC00865K","url":null,"abstract":"<p >In the microcirculation, red blood cells (RBCs) tend to move away from vessel walls, creating a central flow of cells and a peripheral cell-free layer (CFL). The CFL significantly affects blood flow and is important for lab-on-a-chip applications, such as cell–plasma separation. This study investigates how the length of the feeding branch before bifurcations affects RBC distribution and CFL formation, especially in sequential T-bifurcations. We conducted experiments to study RBC flow in microfluidic bifurcating channels of different lengths (2.5–7.5 mm) at a fixed hematocrit of 5% using both healthy and artificially rigidified RBCs. Our findings show that a minimum branch length is required before a bifurcation to achieve a steady state in the CFL. If the channel length before a second bifurcation is shorter than this minimum, reaching an equilibrium CFL in sequential bifurcations is impossible. We observe that short channels after the first bifurcation lead to increased CFL asymmetry in the daughter branches after the second bifurcation, while longer channels better maintain symmetry. Additionally, we explored the impact of RBC rigidity on CFL development. Rigid and healthy RBCs showed similar behavior at the first bifurcation, but their CFL development patterns differed significantly by the second bifurcation, affecting RBC partitioning. These results emphasize the importance of considering branch length in the study and design of bifurcations for lab-on-a-chip devices and provide insights into how impaired RBC deformability can affect blood flow.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 19","pages":" 5055-5064"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d4lc00865k?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144936621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A high-sensitivity and clogging-free microfluidic impedance flow cytometer based on three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing","authors":"Xiao Chen, Tingxuan Fang, Yimin Li, Jie Zhang, Xiaoye Huo, Junbo Wang, Xuzhen Qin, Yueying Li, Yi Zhang and Jian Chen","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00571J","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00571J","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Microfluidic impedance flow cytometry has functioned as an enabling instrument in single-cell analysis, which, however, suffers from the limiting tradeoff between high sensitivity and clogging-free operation. In order to address this issue, this study presented a microfluidic impedance flow cytometer based on three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic focusing, in which the crossflow of conductive sample fluids and insulating sheath fluids was leveraged to centralize and restrict electric field lines to the sample fluid, thereby achieving high impedance sensitivity of single cells without the concern of channel blockage. Different from conventional impedance flow cytometry, in this study, impedance amplitude dips (rather than pulse singles) generated by single microparticles traveling through the 3D hydrodynamic focusing region were experimentally validated using microbeads. Based on the home-developed microfluidic impedance flow cytometer, high-sensitivity and clogging-free impedance profiles of three leukemia cell lines (K562, Jurkat, and HL-60) and four types of purified leukocytes (neutrophil, eosinophil, monocyte, and lymphocyte) were quantified as −8.01 ± 2.96%, −4.53 ± 1.09%, −6.36 ± 1.54%; −8.11 ± 0.84%, −7.23 ± 1.06%, −9.05 ± 2.00% and −5.68 ± 1.24%, respectively. When a recurrent neural network was adopted for cell-type classification, high classification accuracies of 93.9% for three leukemia cell lines and 87.8% for four types of purified leukocytes were achieved. This study presented a promising impedance flow cytometer that combines high sensitivity with sustainable working capabilities, potentially overcoming the limitations of conventional microfluidic impedance flow cytometry and significantly advancing its commercial development.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 20","pages":" 5122-5128"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144936524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"3D holographic flow cytometry measurements of microalgae: strategies for angle recovery in complex rotation patterns","authors":"Francesca Borrelli, Giusy Giugliano, Emilie Houliez, Jaromir Behal, Daniele Pirone, Leonilde Roselli, Angela Sardo, Valerio Zupo, Maria Costantini, Lisa Miccio, Pasquale Memmolo, Vittorio Bianco and Pietro Ferraro","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00559K","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00559K","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Marine ecosystems are in the spotlight, because environmental changes are threatening biodiversity and ecological functions. In this context, microalgae play key ecological roles both in planktonic and benthic ecosystems. Consequently, they are considered indispensable targets for global monitoring programs. However, due to their high spatial and temporal variability and to difficulties of species identification (still relying on microscopy observations), the assessment of roles played by these components of marine ecosystems is demanding. In addition, technologies for a 3D assessment of their complex morphology are scarcely available. Here, we present a comprehensive workflow for retrieving 3D information on microalgae with diverse geometries through holographic microscopy operating in flow-cytometry mode onboard a lab on a chip device. Depending on the rotation patterns of samples, a tailored approach is used to retrieve their rolling angles. We demonstrate the feasibility of measuring 3D data of various microalgae, contingent on the intrinsic optical properties of cells. Specifically, we show that for quasi-transparent and low-scattering microorganisms, the retrieved angles permit quantitative 3D tomographic refractive index (RI) mapping to be achieved, providing full characterization of the alga in terms of its inner structure and outer shape. Moreover, even in the most challenging scenarios, where microalgae exhibit high light absorption or strong scattering, quantitative 3D shape reconstructions of diatoms and dinoflagellates can be at least achieved. Finally, we compare our direct 3D measurements with 2D inferences of 3D properties, obtained using a commercially available microscopy system. The ability to non-invasively obtain 3D information on microalgae marks a fundamental advancement in the field, unlocking a wealth of novel biological insights for characterizing aquatic ecosystems.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 20","pages":" 5283-5291"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d5lc00559k?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144936520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrated physics-based modeling and microfluidics for quantifying multiphase carbonate dissolution in rocks","authors":"Junyoung Hwang, Siqin Yu, Cynthia M. Ross and Ilenia Battiato","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00557D","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00557D","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Acid dissolution of carbonate formations is critical to the energy transition and relevant to many engineering applications. The dynamics of the dissolution reaction are complex, strongly depend both on the flow properties and sample mineralogy and are further complicated by the production of carbon dioxide gas bubbles from the reactive surface, which renders the system multiphase. Quantifying the impact of multiphase flow conditions on effective reaction rates of carbonate dissolution has challenged experimental methods focused on core-based characterization techniques. In this work, we use microfluidic devices that contain carbonate-rich (86 wt%) rock samples with a cylindrical shape to observe their dissolution upon injection of hydrochloric (HCl) acid under both single and multiphase conditions. The dissolution reaction is visualized and recorded at high temporal resolution using a high-speed camera and is quantified through machine learning (ML)-based image segmentation. First, we combine ML-enabled image analysis with physics-based modeling to estimate the instantaneous reaction rates of carbonate dissolution under single-phase conditions and validate that it follows a first-order reaction rate law. Then, we use the proposed approach to determine the effective dissolution rate under multiphase flow conditions, <em>i.e.</em> when – at higher HCl concentration – the formation of CO<small>₂</small> bubbles shields the adjacent carbonate surface hindering reaction progress. We find that, under such conditions, the effective reaction rate decreases by one order of magnitude, strongly deviating from the reaction rate law previously determined for single-phase conditions and that current models are not able to capture the impact of gas shielding effects on effective reaction rates under multiphase flow conditions. We also find that the natural chemical heterogeneity of rocks leads to the <em>in situ</em> formation of an unreacted mineral porous layer which serves as the substrate for gas bubbles to nucleate and grow, which changes the conceptual model established for calcite systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 20","pages":" 5221-5231"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144857980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction: Utilizing layer-parameter of shear horizontal surface acoustic wave biosensor for lipoprotein particle sizing","authors":"Chia-Hsuan Cheng, Hiromi Yatsuda and Jun Kondoh","doi":"10.1039/D5LC90088C","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC90088C","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Correction for ‘Utilizing layer-parameter of shear horizontal surface acoustic wave biosensor for lipoprotein particle sizing’ by Chia-Hsuan Cheng <em>et al.</em>, <em>Lab Chip</em>, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1039/d5lc00444f.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 18","pages":" 4814-4814"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d5lc90088c?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144851584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Morphing out-of-surface channels enable strain-based control over fluid flow in skin-mountable patches","authors":"Rana Altay, Hudson Gasvoda, Max Mailloux-Beauchemin, Johanna Brown, Kari Olson and I. Emre Araci","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00417A","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00417A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The volume of natural materials increases under tension, thus conventionally biomechanical actuation of fluidic pumps relies on compression for pressure generation. Here, we report on out-of-surface microchannels (OSMiCs) that exhibit negative volumetric strain (<em>i.e.</em>, pressure generation) under skin-induced tensile strain. Monolithic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) patches were fabricated and characterized. The complex relations between the wrinkling and buckling of the OSMiC shell and the fluid flow patterns were investigated. OSMiCs were shown to snap-back (-through) between two stable states that lead to (ir)reversible fluid flow depending on their architecture. Unlike standard microchannels that only generate pressure symmetrically upon application and release of tensile strain, OSMiCs are shown to be tunable for providing an asymmetrical pressure owing to their shape-change property (<em>i.e.</em>, morphing). The maximum forward (backward) flow pressure of 10 (−14) kPa was measured upon 20% uniaxial strain application (release). The versatile fabrication technique allowed the integration of OSMiCs with different <em>Q</em> values, leading to a discrete strain-actuated flow control element. Numerical simulations were conducted and shown to support the experimentally observed wrinkling and buckling behavior. Finally, the operation of the power-free OSMiC skin patch for strain-based liquid administration on skin was demonstrated.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 19","pages":" 4943-4956"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144858006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inverse micelle mediated calcium chloride transportation for facile alginate gelation in microdroplets","authors":"Fuyang Qu, Luoquan Li, Qinru Xiao and Yi-Ping Ho","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00175G","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00175G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Block copolymer fluorosurfactants are frequently utilized to stabilize water–oil interfaces in droplet microfluidics, enabling parallel and compartmentalized biochemical reactions within individual droplets. Surfactants are able to self-assemble into inverse micelles with the concentration exceeding the critical micelle concentration (CMC), which has been identified as the main reason causing cross-contamination among droplets. This study explored the possibility to utilize the inverse micelles for passive cargo delivery from the fluorocarbon oil phase into the aqueous droplet interior, which has rarely been studied previously. We presented a novel strategy to load the molecular cargo, in this case calcium, into the inverse micelles and subsequently transport it into the water-in-oil droplets. Specifically, calcium chloride was firstly solvated with methanol and well-dispersed in fluorocarbon oil containing fluorosurfactants. Upon interaction with droplets containing un-crosslinked alginate stabilized by the same kind of fluorosurfactant, calcium ions were able to transport from inverse micelles through the water–oil interface and ultimately to the aqueous droplets, as observed by the successful production of alginate beads through ionic crosslinking of alginate in the microdroplets. The cytotoxicity of methanol was also validated to be minimal in two tested cell lines, suggesting the potential for broad adoption of alginate microbeads produced by the proposed approach.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 18","pages":" 4588-4597"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d5lc00175g?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144840144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigation of fluid diffusion kinetics in nanochannels using micro-Raman spectrometry","authors":"Jingyu Chen, Haowei Lu, Kecheng Zeng, Haidong Ji, Peixue Jiang and Ruina Xu","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00549C","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00549C","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Fluid diffusion kinetics in nanopores is crucial for energy conversion and utilization but influenced by complex pore structure and fluid–wall interactions. Traditional experiments are difficult to decouple diffusion in nanopores and micron-pores, molecular simulations are time-consuming when handling pores with diameters larger than 10 nm, and nanofluidic experiments <em>via</em> conventional optical methods face challenges in measuring fluid concentrations. Here, we report a novel Concentration Decay Method combining nanofluidics and microscopic Raman spectroscopy to investigate diffusion in nanochannels. A “channel-channel-cell” chip design enables real-time detection of fluid concentrations in microcells and measurement of diffusion coefficients in nanochannels, and a self-made temperature control module enables precise adjustment of fluid temperature. By this method, interdiffusion experiments of an <em>n</em>-octane–1-octene mixture and <em>n</em>-octane–cyclooctane mixture in nanochannels (depths = 21–173 nm) are conducted to explore oil diffusion in shale. We report that the oil diffusion in nanochannels still conforms to Fick's diffusion law, and the diffusion coefficients in channels with a minimum depth of 21 nm and at different temperatures (295–383 K) exhibit no obvious deviation from the bulk phase, suggesting that fluid–wall interactions have no significant effect on diffusion kinetics in our experiments. The consistency of the experimental results and classical predictions also validates the reliability of our Concentration Decay Method, which fills the gap in research on fluid diffusion in nanopores and has promising application prospects. Diffusion in nanochannels with more types of fluids, more complex channel structures and smaller depth of the channel can be furthered investigated by this method.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 19","pages":" 5065-5078"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144825970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}