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Microfluidic Chips and Microdevices for Biomedical Engineering

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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, microfluidic and lab-on-a-chip devices have gained particular attention in biomedical applications. As a significant frontier of current analytical science, microfluidic technology plays critical roles in many fields such as disease detection, analytical chemistry, drug screening, cell biology, material synthesis, etc. Due to their advantages, such as miniaturization, versatility, ease of use, cost-effectiveness and unique abilities in fluid control, microfluidics can realize functions that are difficult using conventional methods. The birth and sustainable development of microfluidic technology have created unlimited possibilities for research at the micro- and nanoscale. To this end, many microfluidic technologies and components have been developed to provide alternative solutions to problems that cannot usually be solved using traditional technologies.

This Special Issue aims to establish a platform to showcase the design, characterization, modeling and manufacture of any microfluidic components for various applications. Both research articles and review papers focusing on novel microfluidic, nanofluidic and lab-on-a-chip devices for biomedical applications are welcome.

Dr. Huaying Chen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

micro- and nanofluidics
lab-on-a-chip
drug delivery systems
microdevices for biomedical engineering
biosensing
nanoparticles

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

15 pages, 6633 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Squeezing Droplet Formation in a Flow-Focusing Micro Cross-Junction

by Filippo Azzini, Beatrice Pulvirenti, Massimiliano Rossi and Gian Luca Morini

Micromachines 2024, 15(3), 339; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15030339 - 28 Feb 2024

Viewed by 738

Abstract

Motivated by the increasing need of optimised micro-devices for droplet production in medical and biological applications, this paper introduces an integrated approach for the study of the liquid–liquid droplet creation in flow-focusing micro cross-junctions. The micro-junction considered is characterised by a restriction of the channels cross-sections in the junction, which has the function of focusing the flow in the region of the droplet formation. The problem is studied numerically in the OpenFOAM environment and validated by a comparison with experimental results obtained by high-speed camera images and micro-PIV measurements. The analysis of the forces acting on the dispersed phase during the droplet formation and the diameter of the droplets obtained numerically are considered for the development of a model of the droplet breakup under the squeezing regime. On the basis of energy balancing during the breakup, a relation between interfacial tension, the size of the cross-sections in the junction, and the time interval needed for droplet creation is obtained, which yields a novel correlation between the dimensionless length of the droplet and the dimensionless flow rate. This research expands our knowledge of the phenomenon of drop creation in micro-junctions with restrictions providing new aid for the optimal design of micro-drop generators. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidic Chips and Microdevices for Biomedical Engineering)

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11 pages, 4292 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Deformability-Based Isolation of Circulating Tumor Cells in Spiral Microchannels

by Roya Mohammadali and Morteza Bayareh

Micromachines 2023, 14(11), 2111; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14112111 - 17 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 854

Abstract

The isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and their analysis are crucial for the preliminary identification of invasive cancer. One of the effective properties that can be utilized to isolate CTCs is their deformability. In this paper, inertial-based spiral microchannels with various numbers of loops are employed to sort deformable CTCs using the finite element method (FEM) and an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) approach. The influences of cell deformability, cell size, number of loops, and channel depth on the hydrodynamic behavior of CTCs are discussed. The results demonstrate that the trajectory of cells is affected by the above factors when passing through the spiral channel. This approach can be utilized for sorting and isolating label-free deformable biological cells at large scales in clinical systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidic Chips and Microdevices for Biomedical Engineering)

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Review

Jump to: Research

31 pages, 6524 KiB

Open AccessReview

Particle Counting Methods Based on Microfluidic Devices

by Zenglin Dang, Yuning Jiang, Xin Su, Zhihao Wang, Yucheng Wang, Zhe Sun, Zheng Zhao, Chi Zhang, Yuming Hong and Zhijian Liu

Micromachines 2023, 14(9), 1722; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14091722 - 01 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1506

Abstract

Particle counting serves as a pivotal constituent in diverse analytical domains, encompassing a broad spectrum of entities, ranging from blood cells and bacteria to viruses, droplets, bubbles, wear debris, and magnetic beads. Recent epochs have witnessed remarkable progressions in microfluidic chip technology, culminating in the proliferation and maturation of microfluidic chip-based particle counting methodologies. This paper undertakes a taxonomical elucidation of microfluidic chip-based particle counters based on the physical parameters they detect. These particle counters are classified into three categories: optical-based counters, electrical-based particle counters, and other counters. Within each category, subcategories are established to consider structural differences. Each type of counter is described not only in terms of its working principle but also the methods employed to enhance sensitivity and throughput. Additionally, an analysis of future trends related to each counter type is provided. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidic Chips and Microdevices for Biomedical Engineering)

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