Lab on a Chip最新文献

{"title":"Droplet microfluidic method for measurement of ultralow interfacial tension in ternary fluid systems†","authors":"Thai Dinh, Robert Casal and Thomas Cubaud","doi":"10.1039/D4LC01047G","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4LC01047G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >We experimentally investigate droplet pattern formation in coaxial microchannels using ternary mixtures of two immiscible fluids and a miscible solvent. The influence of solvent concentration is examined through periodic pattern analysis of droplet flow and functional relationships are developed to determine the initial interfacial tension of dispersions made of aqueous mixtures of solvent and oil at short timescales, <em>i.e.</em>, when solvent diffusion into the continuous phase has a negligible effect on flow morphologies. We examine a wide range of flow rates and delineate vast flow maps of droplet regimes, including dripping and jetting flows, to clarify the hydrodynamic behavior of conjugate fluid mixtures in square microcapillaries. A method based on analysis of droplet size and spacing is implemented to predict the role of the miscible fluid additive concentration in microfluidic multiphase flows of water–isopropanol and ethanol–isopropanol blends in viscous silicone oil. This approach enables measurement of extremely small values of interfacial tension at large solvent concentrations. This work shows a technique for exploring and characterizing numerous ternary flow systems of interest with a variety of organic solvents and oils.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 7","pages":" 1823-1830"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143555390","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":"Microfluidic cell unroofing for the <i>in situ</i> molecular analysis of organelles without membrane permeabilization.","authors":"Yuki Umeda, Shinya Yamahira, Koki Nakamura, Tomoko Takagi, Tomoko Suzuki, Kae Sato, Yusuke Hirabayashi, Akimitsu Okamoto, Satoshi Yamaguchi","doi":"10.1039/d5lc00102a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5lc00102a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Molecular networks of organelle membranes are involved in many cell processes. However, the nature of plasma membrane as a barrier to various analytical tools, including antibodies, makes it challenging to examine intact organelle membranes without affecting their structure and functions <i>via</i> membrane permeabilization. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to develop a microfluidic method to unroof cells and observe the intrinsic membrane molecules in organelles. In our method, single cells were precisely arrayed on the bottom surface of microchannels in a light-guided manner using a photoactivatable cell-anchoring material. At sufficiently short cell intervals, horizontal stresses generated by the laminar flow instantly fractured the upper cell membranes, without significantly affecting some organelles inside the fractured cells. Subsequently, nucleus and other organelles in unroofed cells were observed <i>via</i> confocal fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, distribution of the mitochondrial membrane protein, translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 20, on the mitochondrial membrane was successfully observed <i>via</i> immunostaining without permeabilization. Overall, the established cell unroofing method shows great potential to examine the localization, functions, and affinities of proteins on intact organelle membranes.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143497494","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":"Study on the size and spatial configuration of liquid metal droplets in conductive hydrogels induced by surface acoustic waves.","authors":"Siyu Zhao, Zhaomiao Liu, Nan Zheng, Chenchen Zhang, Kai Zheng, Shuai Shi, Yan Pang","doi":"10.1039/d4lc00935e","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4lc00935e","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Conductive hydrogels based on liquid metal microdroplets are widely used as wearable electronic devices. Droplet uniformity affects sensor sensitivity for weak signals, such as heart rate and pulse rate. Surface acoustic waves at micrometer wavelengths allow precise control of a single droplet, and have the potential to make uniformly discrete liquid metal droplets and distribute them in hydrogels. But the control law of liquid metal droplet size and its spatial configuration by acoustic surface waves is not clear. The aim of this paper is to present an analysis of the acoustic regulation mechanism in the interfacial evolution of fluids with high interfacial tension coefficients, and to investigate the influence of microdroplet generation characteristics (size and spacing) on the conductive and mechanical properties of conductive hydrogels. The results showed that the combined action of acoustic radiation force, shear force and pressure difference force helped to overcome interfacial tension and speed up the interfacial necking process during the filling and squeezing stages. The use of acoustic surface waves serves to diminish the influence of droplet size on the two-phase flow rate. This provides an effective approach for achieving decoupled control of microdroplet size and spacing, alongside the formation of a homogenous array of liquid metal droplets. The acoustic surface wave effect makes the liquid metal microdroplets more uniform in size and spacing. As the liquid metal content relative to the hydrogel substrate solution increases, the liquid metal size decreases. The hydrogel's initial conductivity and conductivity after self-healing increase by 10% and 25%, respectively, which can realize the effective monitoring of ECG and EMG signals. This study helps to reveal the evolution mechanism of liquid-metal interfaces induced by acoustic surface waves, elucidate the effects of microdroplet size and spacing on the conductive and mechanical properties of hydrogels, and provide theoretical guidance for the high-precision preparation of wearable electronic devices.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143497577","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: In vitro vascularized liver tumor model based on a microfluidic inverse opal scaffold for immune cell recruitment investigation","authors":"Pingwei Xu, Junjie Chi, Xiaochen Wang, Meng Zhu, Kai Chen, Qihui Fan, Fangfu Ye and Changmin Shao","doi":"10.1039/D5LC90014J","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC90014J","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Correction for ‘<em>In vitro</em> vascularized liver tumor model based on a microfluidic inverse opal scaffold for immune cell recruitment investigation’ by Pingwei Xu <em>et al.</em>, <em>Lab Chip</em>, 2024, <strong>24</strong>, 3470–3479, https://doi.org/10.1039/D4LC00341A</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 6","pages":" 1611-1613"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d5lc90014j?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143497484","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":"On-chip near-infrared multi-gas sensing using chalcogenide anti-resonant hollow-core waveguides","authors":"Yuting Min, Mingquan Pi, Zihang Peng, Gangyun Guan, Lei Liang, Fang Song, Yiding Wang, Yu Zhang, Xue Bai and Chuantao Zheng","doi":"10.1039/D4LC00971A","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4LC00971A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >On-chip infrared spectroscopic gas sensing using a hollow-core anti-resonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) with a large external confinement factor (ECF) was rarely reported due to the complex fabrication process and polarization dependence. Alternatively, we proposed ARROW gas sensors using chalcogenide (ChG) anti-resonant layers which require thermal evaporation and epoxy resin bonding for fabrication instead of the complicated wafer bonding process. Polarization characteristics and ethylene (C<small>₂</small>H<small>₂</small>) sensing performance at 1.532 μm were measured for two ARROW sensors with four-side (WG_A) and three-side (WG_B) anti-resonant layers around the hollow-core. Due to a symmetric structure, the 1 cm-long WG_A sensor exhibits polarization-insensitive characteristics, which does not require an additional polarization controller for integrated on-chip sensors and enhances the stability and reliability of the sensor under fluctuating polarization states. A high ECF of 71% and a 1<em>σ</em> limit of detection (LoD) of ∼23 parts-per-million (ppm) for WG_A were achieved at an averaging time of 39.2 s. The broadband multi-gas detection capability of WG_A was verified through C<small>₂</small>H<small>₂</small> detection at 1.532 μm and CH<small>₄</small> at 1.654 μm, highlighting the potential of ARROWs for on-chip multi-gas sensing.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 7","pages":" 1801-1812"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143539385","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":"A microfluidic platform for extraction and analysis of bacterial genomic DNA†","authors":"Alex Joesaar, Martin Holub, Leander Lutze, Marco Emanuele, Jacob Kerssemakers, Martin Pabst and Cees Dekker","doi":"10.1039/D4LC00839A","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4LC00839A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Bacterial cells organize their genomes into a compact hierarchical structure called the nucleoid. Studying the nucleoid in cells faces challenges because of the cellular complexity while <em>in vitro</em> assays have difficulty in handling the fragile megabase-scale DNA biopolymers that make up bacterial genomes. Here, we introduce a method that overcomes these limitations as we develop and use a microfluidic device for the sequential extraction, purification, and analysis of bacterial nucleoids in individual microchambers. Our approach avoids any transfer or pipetting of the fragile megabase-size genomes and thereby prevents their fragmentation. We show how the microfluidic system can be used to extract and analyze single chromosomes from <em>B. subtilis</em> cells. Upon on-chip lysis, the bacterial genome expands in size and DNA-binding proteins are flushed away. Subsequently, exogeneous proteins can be added to the trapped DNA <em>via</em> diffusion. We envision that integrated microfluidic platforms will become an essential tool for the bottom-up assembly of complex biomolecular systems such as artificial chromosomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 7","pages":" 1767-1775"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11873781/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143536180","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":"Blood-perfused Vessels-on-Chips stimulated with patient plasma recapitulate endothelial activation and microthrombosis in COVID-19†","authors":"Huub J. Weener, Thijs F. van Haaps, Ruben W. J. van Helden, Hugo J. Albers, Rozemarijn Haverkate, Heleen H. T. Middelkamp, Milan L. Ridderikhof, Thijs E. van Mens, Albert van den Berg, Christine L. Mummery, Valeria V. Orlova, Saskia Middeldorp, Nick van Es and Andries D. van der Meer","doi":"10.1039/D4LC00848K","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4LC00848K","url":null,"abstract":"<p >A subset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients develops severe symptoms, characterized by acute lung injury, endothelial dysfunction and microthrombosis. Viral infection and immune cell activation contribute to this phenotype. It is known that systemic inflammation, evidenced by circulating inflammatory factors in patient plasma, is also likely to be involved in the pathophysiology of severe COVID-19. Here, we evaluate whether systemic inflammatory factors can induce endothelial dysfunction and subsequent thromboinflammation. We use a microfluidic Vessel-on-Chip model lined by human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cells (hiPSC-ECs), stimulate it with plasma from hospitalized COVID-19 patients and perfuse it with human whole blood. COVID-19 plasma exhibited elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines compared to plasma from healthy controls. Incubation of hiPSC-ECs with COVID-19 plasma showed an activated endothelial phenotype, characterized by upregulation of inflammatory markers and transcriptomic patterns of host defense against viral infection. Treatment with COVID-19 plasma induced increased platelet aggregation in the Vessel-on-Chip, which was associated partially with formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETosis). Our study demonstrates that factors in the plasma play a causative role in thromboinflammation in the context of COVID-19. The presented Vessel-on-Chip can enable future studies on diagnosis, prevention and treatment of severe COVID-19.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 7","pages":" 1787-1800"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11877278/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143539378","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 microfluidic twin islets-on-chip device for on-line electrophysiological monitoring†","authors":"Marie Lallouet, Loic Olçomendy, Julien Gaitan, Killian Montiège, Marie Monchablon, Antoine Pirog, Dorian Chapeau, Emilie Puginier, Sylvie Renaud, Matthieu Raoux and Jochen Lang","doi":"10.1039/D4LC00967C","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4LC00967C","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Pancreatic islets play a major role in glucose homeostasis as well as in diabetes, and islets-on-chip devices have been mainly developed using optical means for on-line monitoring. In contrast, no well-characterized electrophysiological platform for on-line analysis with unrivalled temporal resolution has been reported. Extracellular electrophysiology monitors two crucial parameters, islet β-cell activity and β-to-β-cell coupling, does not require chemical or genetic probes with inherent potential bias, is non-invasive and permits repetitive long-term monitoring. We have now developed and characterized a microfluidic islets-on-chip for combined electrophysiology (on-line) and hormone monitoring (off-line) with two chambers for concomitant monitoring. Fabrication of the device, based on commercial or easily manufacturable components, is within the reach of non-specialized laboratories. The chip permits convenient loading as well as long-term culture with comparable glucose kinetics and low shear stress in both chambers. An optimized flow rate did not alter islet β-cell electrical activity or coupling in response to glucose. Culturing for up to 8 days did not change islet survival as well as glucose-induced electrical or secretory kinetics of islet β-cells. The addition of a physiological amino acid mix, in the presence of elevated glucose, made a considerable change in the functional organisation of islet β-cell activity in terms of frequency and coupling, which explains the ensuing strong increase in insulin secretion. This device thus allows reliable long-term multiparametric on-line monitoring in two islet populations. The ease of fabrication, assembly and handling should permit widespread long-term on-line monitoring of islet activity in native micro-organs (<em>e.g.</em> controls/mutants), pseudo-islets or stem-cell-derived islet-like organoids.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 7","pages":" 1831-1841"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d4lc00967c?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143555389","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":"Synthetic molecular communication through microfluidic oscillating droplets for intrabody physiological data transmission","authors":"Fabrizio Pappalardo, Carla Panarello, Salvo Quattropani, Laura Galluccio, Antonino Licciardello, Roberta Ruffino, Giovanni Li-Destri, Alfio Lombardo, Giacomo Morabito and Nunzio Tuccitto","doi":"10.1039/D4LC00944D","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4LC00944D","url":null,"abstract":"<p >We explore the capabilities of a microfluidic-based synthetic molecular communication (SMC) system for the transmission of physiological data within the human body. The system employs oscillating water droplets as a means of transmitting information through pressure variations. The validity of this approach for binary communications is validated through a combination of simulations and experiments. A case study focused on monitoring gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has been considered. The prototype platform demonstrated the capacity to transmit both synthetic raw esophageal pH values and severity classifications (<em>e.g.</em> acid reflux) through oscillating droplets. This finding underscores the promise of SMC for real-time physiological monitoring, paving the way for enhanced disease diagnosis and personalized treatment in medicine. Despite the need for miniaturization to facilitate <em>in vivo</em> use, this research establishes a robust foundation for the development of microfluidic SMC devices for medical diagnostics and physiological monitoring.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 7","pages":" 1707-1717"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d4lc00944d?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143497672","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":"Label-free differentiation of living versus dead single yeast cells using broadband electrical impedance spectroscopy†","authors":"Amirhossein Favakeh, Amir Mokhtare, Mohammad Javad Asadi, James C. M. Hwang and Alireza Abbaspourrad","doi":"10.1039/D5LC00043B","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5LC00043B","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The use of the intrinsic electrical properties of a single cell by broadband electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as a label-free and non-invasive method to monitor cellular and intracellular features is an emerging field. Here, we present a novel EIS-based sheathless microfluidic platform with an integrated coplanar waveguide to probe the interior of a single cell. This platform allows for precise single-cell trapping by dielectrophoresis, hydrodynamic focusing, and sensing the electrical properties of the trapped single cell. We measured the impedance characteristics of a single <em>Schizosaccharomyces pombe</em> (fission) yeast cell by a single frequency sweep (30 kHz to 6GHz) in a stagnant sucrose solution using two-port scattering (<em>S</em>) parameters. The measurements revealed a clear distinction between the cytoplasm impedance of live <em>versus</em> dead cells at 3 GHz. This platform could provide real-time monitoring of cellular electrical responses to chemical and physical antagonists for diagnostic purposes.</p>","PeriodicalId":85,"journal":{"name":"Lab on a Chip","volume":" 7","pages":" 1744-1754"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/lc/d5lc00043b?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143522204","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}