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Micromachines
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Micromachines in Medical Devices, Prosthetics, Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Equipment
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Micromachines in Medical Devices, Prosthetics, Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Equipment

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "B：Biology and Biomedicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2022) | Viewed by 16887

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Beelee Chua

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
Interests: wearable diagnostics and therapeutics; disposable devices; edible sensors; insulin pumps; glucose sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. David C.K. Ng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Shantou University, Guangdong 515063, China
Interests: medical implants; human–machine interface; neural rehabilitation technologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The application of micromachines in medicine has seen tremendous growth, especially in the development of new prosthesis, diagnostics, surgery, and therapeutics. Microelectrode arrays have been developed to interface with neurons in vivo and are being used as therapeutic devices to help patients regain their vision or hearing. Microdevices, such as camera pills and microcatheters, have been introduced inside the body for minimally invasive diagnostics and even surgery. Microsyringes are helping doctors administer medicine in non-conventional ways and are benefitting patients who require frequent dosages without professional intervention. Microneedles are being used to access interstitial fluids in skin to measure glucose and other biomarkers.

In view of new and exciting developments in medical applications, we are inviting original submissions on micromachines in medical devices, prosthetics, diagnostics, therapeutics, and equipment. Novel designs or improvement of Class I, II, and III (US FDA) or EN 13795 certified (EU) devices, as well as other certifiable devices, including but not limited to test strips, catheters, implants, suturing tools, glucose sensors, insulin pumps, and smart contact lenses are welcome. Clinical data are welcome but not essential for consideration.

Prof. Dr. Beelee Chua
Prof. Dr. David C.K. Ng
Guest Editors

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

  • diagnostics
  • therapeutics
  • intervention
  • implantables
  • wearable
  • disposable
  • paper based
  • reusable
  • biomaterials
  • 3D printed
  • microfabrication
  • micromachining
  • microfluidics
  • microneedles
  • 3D nano-embossing
  • microelectrodes
  • microcatheters
  • bioMEMS
  • minimally invasive
  • microrobotics.

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 7818 KiB  
Article
A Portable Continuous-Flow Polymerase Chain Reaction Chip Device Integrated with Arduino Boards for Detecting Colla corii asini
by Shyang-Chwen Sheu, Yi-Syuan Song and Jyh-Jian Chen
Micromachines 2022, 13(8), 1289; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13081289 - 11 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2735
Abstract
Food security is a significant issue in modern society. Because morphological characters are not reliable enough to distinguish authentic traditional Chinese medicines, it is essential to establish an effective and applicable method to identify them to protect people’s health. Due to the expensive [...] Read more.
Food security is a significant issue in modern society. Because morphological characters are not reliable enough to distinguish authentic traditional Chinese medicines, it is essential to establish an effective and applicable method to identify them to protect people’s health. Due to the expensive cost of the manufacturing process and the large volume of the analytical system, the need to build a portable and cheap device is urgent. This work describes the development of a portable nucleic acid amplification device integrated with thermal control and liquid pumping connecting to Arduino boards. We present a novel microfluidic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) chip with symmetric isothermal zones. The total chip volume is small, and only one Arduino board is needed for thermal control. We assemble a miniaturized liquid pump and program an Arduino file to push the sample mixture into the chip to implement the PCR process. In the proposed operation, the Nusselt number of the sample flow is less than one, and the heat transfer is conduction only. Then we can ensure temperature uniformity in specific reaction regions. A Colla corii asini DNA segment of 200 bp is amplified to evaluate the PCR performance under the various operational parameters. The initial concentration for accomplishing the PCR process is at least 20 ng/μL at the flow rate of 0.4 μL/min in the portable continuous flow PCR (CFPCR) device. To our knowledge, our group is the first to introduce Arduino boards into the heat control and sample pumping modules for a CFPCR device. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines in Medical Devices, Prosthetics, Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Equipment)
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10 pages, 243 KiB  
Article
Differences in Treating Patients with Palpitations at the Primary Healthcare Level Using Telemedical Device Savvy before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Staša Vodička and Erika Zelko
Micromachines 2022, 13(8), 1176; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13081176 - 26 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1723
Abstract
Background: Palpitations are one of most common reasons why a patient visits a general practitioner (GP) and is referred to a cardiologist. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with new-onset arrhythmias, which are difficult to diagnose at the primary healthcare level during [...] Read more.
Background: Palpitations are one of most common reasons why a patient visits a general practitioner (GP) and is referred to a cardiologist. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with new-onset arrhythmias, which are difficult to diagnose at the primary healthcare level during pandemic-related lockdown periods. Methods: A total of 151 patients with a complaint of heart rhythm disorder were included from before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as after the start of vaccination, in this cohort retrospective study. We used a telemedical device—namely, a personal electrocardiographic (ECG) sensor called Savvy—to investigate heart rhythm in patients. The primary outcome of the study was to evaluate the number of actual heart rhythm disorder patients and any differences that infection with or vaccination for COVID-19 had on patients handled in a primary healthcare setting. Results: We found a heart rhythm disorder in 8.6% of patients before the COVID-19 pandemic and in 15.2–17.9% of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.002). During the COVID-19 pandemic, we found a heart rhythm disorder in almost 50% of patients that had tested positive for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 virus) more than one month ago. After the vaccinations started, we also found a heart rhythm disorder in almost 50% of non-vaccinated patients. Conclusions: Using a telemedical approach or remote consultation is a useful method, at the primary healthcare level, for diagnosing and treating patients with palpitations during times of lockdown. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines in Medical Devices, Prosthetics, Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Equipment)
18 pages, 14588 KiB  
Article
Performance Evaluation of a Magnetically Driven Microrobot for Targeted Drug Delivery
by Zhuocong Cai, Qiang Fu, Songyuan Zhang, Chunliu Fan, Xi Zhang, Jian Guo and Shuxiang Guo
Micromachines 2021, 12(10), 1210; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12101210 - 3 Oct 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3456
Abstract
Given that the current microrobot cannot achieve fixed-point and quantitative drug application in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, a targeted drug delivery microrobot is proposed, and its principle and characteristics are studied. Through the control of an external magnetic field, it can actively move [...] Read more.
Given that the current microrobot cannot achieve fixed-point and quantitative drug application in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, a targeted drug delivery microrobot is proposed, and its principle and characteristics are studied. Through the control of an external magnetic field, it can actively move to the affected area to realize the targeted drug delivery function. The microrobot has a cam structure connected with a radially magnetized permanent magnet, which can realize two movement modes: movement and targeted drug delivery. Firstly, the magnetic actuated capsule microrobotic system (MACMS) is analyzed. Secondly, the dynamic model and quantitative drug delivery model of the targeted drug delivery microrobot driven by the spiral jet structure are established, and the motion characteristics of the targeted drug delivery microrobot are simulated and analyzed by the method of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Finally, the whole process of the targeted drug delivery task of the microrobot is simulated. The results show that the targeted drug delivery microrobot can realize basic movements such as forward, backward, fixed-point parking and drug delivery through external magnetic field control, which lays the foundation for gastrointestinal diagnosis and treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines in Medical Devices, Prosthetics, Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Equipment)
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14 pages, 4416 KiB  
Article
Pain-Administrable Neuron Electrode with Wireless Energy Transmission: Architecture Design and Prototyping
by Chin-Yu Lin, Li-Chi Chang, Jyh-Chern Chen, Meng-Sheng Chen, Hsun Yu and Mei-Chih Wang
Micromachines 2021, 12(4), 356; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12040356 - 25 Mar 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2218
Abstract
Back pain resulted from spine disorders reaches 60–80% prevalence in humans, which seriously influences life quality and retards economic production. Conventional electrical pain relief therapy uses radiofrequency to generate a high temperature of 70–85 °C on the electrode tip to destroy the neural [...] Read more.
Back pain resulted from spine disorders reaches 60–80% prevalence in humans, which seriously influences life quality and retards economic production. Conventional electrical pain relief therapy uses radiofrequency to generate a high temperature of 70–85 °C on the electrode tip to destroy the neural transmission and stop the pain. However, due to the larger area of stimulation, eliciting significant side effects, such as paralysis, contraction, and a slightly uncomfortable feeling, our study aimed to design a tiny and stretchable neural stimulatory electrode that could be precisely anchored adjacent to the dorsal root ganglion which needs therapy and properly interfere with the sensory neural transmission. We also designed a subcutaneously implantable wireless power transmission (WPT) device to drive the neural stimulatory electrode. Through the study, we elaborated the design concept and clinical problems, and achieved: (1) the architecture design and simulation of the transdermal wireless power transferred device, (2) a wrap-able pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) stimulatory electrode, (3) an insulation packaging design of the titanium protection box. The feasibility study and hands-on prototype were also carried out. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines in Medical Devices, Prosthetics, Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Equipment)
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12 pages, 1115 KiB  
Article
Implementation of a Savvy Mobile ECG Sensor for Heart Rhythm Disorder Screening at the Primary Healthcare Level: An Observational Prospective Study
by Staša Vodička, Antonija Poplas Susič and Erika Zelko
Micromachines 2021, 12(1), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12010055 - 5 Jan 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2408
Abstract
Introduction: The Jozef Stefan Institute developed a personal portable electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor Savvy that works with a smartphone, and this was used in our study. This study aimed to analyze the usefulness of telecardiology at the primary healthcare level using an ECG personal [...] Read more.
Introduction: The Jozef Stefan Institute developed a personal portable electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor Savvy that works with a smartphone, and this was used in our study. This study aimed to analyze the usefulness of telecardiology at the primary healthcare level using an ECG personal sensor. Methods: We included 400 patients with a history of suspected rhythm disturbance who visited their family physician at the Healthcare Center Ljubljana and Healthcare Center Murska Sobota from October 2016 to January 2018. Results: The study found that there was no statistically significant difference between the test and control groups in the number of present rhythm disorders and actions taken to treat patients with either observation or administration of a new drug. However, in the test group, there were significantly fewer patients being referred to a cardiologist than in the control group (p < 0.001). Discussion: The use of an ECG sensor helps family physicians to distinguish between patients who need to be referred to a cardiologist and those who can be treated by them. This method is useful for both physicians and patients because it shortens the time taken to start treatment, can be used during pandemics such as COVID-19, and reduces unnecessary cost. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines in Medical Devices, Prosthetics, Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Equipment)
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16 pages, 4164 KiB  
Article
Bio-Compatibility and Bio-Insulation of Implantable Electrode Prosthesis Ameliorated by A-174 Silane Primed Parylene-C Deposited Embedment
by Chin-Yu Lin, Wan-Shiun Lou, Jyh-Chern Chen, Kuo-Yao Weng, Ming-Cheng Shih, Ya-Wen Hung, Zhu-Yin Chen and Mei-Chih Wang
Micromachines 2020, 11(12), 1064; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11121064 - 30 Nov 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2920
Abstract
Microelectrodes for pain management, neural prosthesis or assistances have a huge medical demand, such as the application of pain management chip or retinal prosthesis addressed on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Due to lifelong implanted in human body and [...] Read more.
Microelectrodes for pain management, neural prosthesis or assistances have a huge medical demand, such as the application of pain management chip or retinal prosthesis addressed on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Due to lifelong implanted in human body and direct adhesion of neural tissues, the electrodes and associated insulation materials should possess an ideal bio-compatibility, including non-cytotoxicity and no safety concern elicited by immune responses. Our goal intended to develop retinal prosthesis, an electrical circuit chip used for assisting neural electrons transmission on retina and ameliorating the retinal disability. Therefore, based on the ISO 10993 guidance for implantable medical devices, the electrode prosthesis with insulation material has to conduct bio-compatibility assessment including cytotoxicity, hemolysis, (skin) irritation and pathological implantation examinations. In this study, we manufactured inter-digitated electrode (IDE) chips mimic the electrode prosthesis through photolithography. The titanium and platinum composites were deposited onto a silicon wafer to prepare an electric circuit to mimic the electrode used in retinal prosthesis manufacture, which further be encapsulated to examine the bio-compatibility in compliance with ISO 10993 and ASTM guidance specifically for implantable medical devices. Parylene-C, polyimide and silicon carbide were selected as materials for electrode encapsulation in comparison. Our data revealed parylene-C coating showed a significant excellence on bio-insulation and bio-compatibility specifically addressed on implantable neuron stimulatory devices and provided an economic procedure to package the electrode prosthesis. Therefore, parylene C encapsulation should serve as a consideration for future application on retinal prosthesis manufacture and examination. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micromachines in Medical Devices, Prosthetics, Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Equipment)
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