Emerging Micro and Nano Technologies in Advanced Point of Care (POC) Innovations

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "B4: Point-of-Care Devices".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2022) | Viewed by 7767

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Weber State University, Ogden, UT 84408, USA
Interests: mechanical design; fluid mechanics; NEMS; sensors; 3D bioprinting; nanoengineering; nanofabrication
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Guest Editor
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA
Interests: biomedical microdevices; microfluidics; graphene/CNT; electrochemical system; battery/fuel cell
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Advances in micro- and nanotechnologies have revolutionized the recent point-of-care (POC) innovations in healthcare applications. The emerging trends in micro- and nanosciences have significantly enhanced the POC device development capabilities. As the current pandemic around the world has reiterated the need for advances in healthcare innovations, the study of recent micro/nano engineering in POC applications has received significant importance worldwide. In the process of developing enhanced sensitive and precise POC devices, synergistic integration of the various scientific fields, such as fluid dynamics, electromechanical engineering, fabrication processes, etc., at the micro and nanolevel is highly necessary. The fascinating combination of micro/nanosciences with Artificial Intelligence and Machine and deep learning provides the most promising results in the development of precise personal medication and next-generation lab/organ-on-a-chip technologies. The latest state-of-the-art micro and nanotechnological innovations have redefined point-of-care technologies in healthcare applications. This Special Issue will address and highlight the most recent and innovative advances made in micro- and nanotechnologies in the field of point-of-care applications.

Some of the topics of interest to this Special Issue include:

  • 2D/3D nanofabrication and synthesis;
  • Micro/nanoelectromechanical systems;
  • Lab/organ on a chip;
  • Micro/nanofluidic platforms;
  • Machine and deep learning/big data;
  • Personalized medicine and healthcare;
  • Miniature and wireless devices. 

Dr. Bharath Babu Nunna
Prof. Dr. Eon Soo Lee
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • micro/nanofluidics
  • MEMS/NEMS
  • point-of-care (POC) devices
  • lab on a chip
  • precision health
  • machine and deep learning/big data
  • personalized health
  • miniature wireless device

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1877 KiB  
Article
Digital Microfluidic Multiplex RT-qPCR for SARS-CoV-2 Detection and Variants Discrimination
by Kuan-Lun Ho, Jing Ding, Jia-Shao Fan, Wai Ning Tiffany Tsui, Jianfa Bai and Shih-Kang Fan
Micromachines 2023, 14(8), 1627; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14081627 - 17 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1510
Abstract
Continuous mutations have occurred in the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The increased transmissibility of the mutated viruses has not only imposed medical burdens but also prolonged the duration of the pandemic. A point-of-care (POC) platform [...] Read more.
Continuous mutations have occurred in the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The increased transmissibility of the mutated viruses has not only imposed medical burdens but also prolonged the duration of the pandemic. A point-of-care (POC) platform that provides multitarget detection will help to track and reduce disease transmissions. Here we detected and discriminated three genotypes of SARS-CoV-2, including the wildtype and two variants of concern (VOCs), the Delta variant and Omicron variant, through reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) on a digital microfluidics (DMF)-based cartridge. Upon evaluating with the RNA samples of Omicron variant, the DMF RT-qPCR presented a sensitivity of 10 copies/μL and an amplification efficiency of 96.1%, capable for clinical diagnosis. When spiking with SARS-CoV-2 RNA (wildtype, Delta variant, or Omicron variant) and 18S rDNA, the clinical analog samples demonstrated accurate detection and discrimination of different SARS-CoV-2 strains in 49 min. Full article
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21 pages, 21816 KiB  
Article
Rapid Fabrication of Low-Cost Thermal Bubble-Driven Micro-Pumps
by Brandon Hayes, Lawrence Smith, Heiko Kabutz, Austin C. Hayes, Gregory L. Whiting, Kaushik Jayaram and Robert MacCurdy
Micromachines 2022, 13(10), 1634; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13101634 - 29 Sep 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2106
Abstract
Thermal bubble-driven micro-pumps are an upcoming actuation technology that can be directly integrated into micro/mesofluidic channels to displace fluid without any moving parts. These pumps consist of high power micro-resistors, which we term thermal micro-pump (TMP) resistors, that locally boil fluid at the [...] Read more.
Thermal bubble-driven micro-pumps are an upcoming actuation technology that can be directly integrated into micro/mesofluidic channels to displace fluid without any moving parts. These pumps consist of high power micro-resistors, which we term thermal micro-pump (TMP) resistors, that locally boil fluid at the resistor surface in microseconds creating a vapor bubble to perform mechanical work. Conventional fabrication approaches of thermal bubble-driven micro-pumps and associated microfluidics have utilized semiconductor micro-fabrication techniques requiring expensive tooling with long turn around times on the order of weeks to months. In this study, we present a low-cost approach to rapidly fabricate and test thermal bubble-driven micro-pumps with associated microfluidics utilizing commercial substrates (indium tin oxide, ITO, and fluorine doped tin oxide, FTO, coated glass) and tooling (laser cutter). The presented fabrication approach greatly reduces the turn around time from weeks/months for conventional micro-fabrication to a matter of hours/days allowing acceleration of thermal bubble-driven micro-pump research and development (R&D) learning cycles. Full article
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18 pages, 4960 KiB  
Article
Capillary Flow-Driven and Magnetically Actuated Multi-Use Wax Valves for Controlled Sealing and Releasing of Fluids on Centrifugal Microfluidic Platforms
by Snehan Peshin, Derosh George, Roya Shiri, Lawrence Kulinsky and Marc Madou
Micromachines 2022, 13(2), 303; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13020303 - 16 Feb 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3617
Abstract
Compact disc (CD)-based centrifugal microfluidics is an increasingly popular choice for academic and commercial applications as it enables a portable platform for biological and chemical assays. By rationally designing microfluidic conduits and programming the disc’s rotational speeds and accelerations, one can reliably control [...] Read more.
Compact disc (CD)-based centrifugal microfluidics is an increasingly popular choice for academic and commercial applications as it enables a portable platform for biological and chemical assays. By rationally designing microfluidic conduits and programming the disc’s rotational speeds and accelerations, one can reliably control propulsion, metering, and valving operations. Valves that either stop fluid flow or allow it to proceed are critical components of a CD platform. Among the valves on a CD, wax valves that liquify at elevated temperatures to open channels and that solidify at room temperature to close them have been previously implemented on CD platforms. However, typical wax valves on the CD fluidic platforms can be actuated only once (to open or to close) and require complex fabrication steps. Here, we present two new multiple-use wax valve designs, driven by capillary or magnetic forces. One wax valve design utilizes a combination of capillary-driven flow of molten wax and centrifugal force to toggle between open and closed configurations. The phase change of the wax is enabled by heat application (e.g., a 500-mW laser). The second wax valve design employs a magnet to move a molten ferroparticle-laden wax in and out of a channel to enable reversible operation. A multi-phase numerical simulation study of the capillary-driven wax valve was carried out and compared with experimental results. The capillary wax valve parameters including response time, angle made by the sidewall of the wax reservoir with the direction of a valve channel, wax solidification time, minimum spin rate of the CD for opening a valve, and the time for melting a wax plug are measured and analyzed theoretically. Additionally, the motion of the molten wax in a valve channel is compared to its theoretical capillary advance with respect to time and are found to be within 18.75% of the error margin. Full article
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