ABSTRACT
We demonstrate an innovative method to catch the desired droplets from a train of droplets and immobilize them in traps located in an integrated microfluidic device. To this end, water-in-oil droplets are generated in a flow-focusing junction and then guided to a channel connected to chambers designated for on-demand droplet trapping. Each chamber is connected to a side channel through a batch of microposts. The side channels are also connected to the flexible poly(vinyl chloride) tubes, which can be closed by attaching binder clips. The hydrodynamic resistance of the routes in the device can be changed by opening and closing the binder clips. In this way, droplets are easily guided into individual traps based on the user's demand. A set of numerical simulations was also conducted to investigate the authenticity of the employed idea and to find the optimal geometry for implementing our strategy. This simple method can be easily employed for on-demand droplet trapping without using on-chip valves or complex off-chip actuators proposed in previous studies.
ABSTRACT
Several tumour spheroid-on-chip models have already been proposed in the literature to conduct high throughput drug screening assays. The microfluidic configurations in these models generally depend on the strategies adopted for spheroid formation and entrapment. However, it is not clear how successful they are to mimic in vivo transport mechanisms. In this study, drug transport in different tumour spheroid-on-chip models is numerically investigated under static and dynamic conditions using porous media theory. Moreover, the treatment of a solid tumour at the initial stage of development is modelled using bolus injection and continuous infusion methods. Then, the results of tumour spheroid-on-chip, including drug concentration, cell viability, as well as pressure and fluid shear stress distributions, are compared with those of the solid tumour, assuming identical transport properties in all models. Finally, a new configuration of the microfluidic device along with the optimal drug concentrations is proposed, which can well imitate a given in vivo situation.
Subject(s)
Lab-On-A-Chip Devices , Neoplasms , Humans , Microfluidics , Neoplasms/drug therapy , Reproducibility of Results , Spheroids, Cellular , Drug Delivery Systems , Tumor Cells, CulturedABSTRACT
Droplet-based microfluidic logic gates have many applications in diagnostic assays and biosciences due to their automation and the ability to be cascaded. In spite of many bio-fluids, such as blood exhibit non-Newtonian characteristics, all the previous studies have been concerned with the Newtonian fluids. Moreover, none of the previous studies has investigated the operating regions of the logic gates. In this research, we consider a typical AND/OR logic gate with a power-law fluid. We study the effects of important parameters such as the power-law index, the droplet length, the capillary number, and the geometrical parameters of the microfluidic system on the operating regions of the system. The results indicate that AND/OR states mechanism function in opposite directions. By increasing the droplet length, the capillary number and the power-law index, the operating region of AND state increases while the operating region of OR state reduces. Increasing the channel width will decrease the operating region of AND state while it increases the operating region of OR state. For proper operation of the logic gate, it should work in both AND/OR states appropriately. By combining the operating regions of these two states, the overall operating region of the logic gate is achieved.
ABSTRACT
Three-dimensional cell culture and the forming multicellular aggregates are superior over traditional monolayer approaches due to better mimicking of in vivo conditions and hence functions of a tissue. A considerable amount of attention has been devoted to devising efficient methods for the rapid formation of uniform-sized multicellular aggregates. Microfluidic technology describes a platform of techniques comprising microchannels to manipulate the small number of reagents with unique properties and capabilities suitable for biological studies. The focus of this review is to highlight recent studies of using microfluidics, especially droplet-based types for the formation, culture, and harvesting of mesenchymal stem cell aggregates and their subsequent application in stem cell biology, tissue engineering, and drug screening. Droplet-based microfluidics can be used to form microgels as carriers for delivering cells and to provide biological cues to the target tissue so as to be minimally invasive. Stem cell-laden microgels with a shape-forming property can be used as smart building blocks by injecting them into the injured tissue thereby constituting the cornerstone of tissue regeneration.
ABSTRACT
We develop accurate analytical relations for the droplet volume ratio, droplet length during breakup process, and pressure drop of asymmetric T junctions with a valve in each of the branches for producing unequal-sized droplets. An important advantage of this system is that after manufacturing the system, the size of the generated droplets can be changed simply by adjusting the valves. The results indicate that if the valve ratio is smaller than 0.65, the system enters a nonbreakup regime. Also the pressure drop does not depend on the time and decreases by increasing the valve ratio, namely, opening the degree of valve 1 to valve 2. In addition, the results reveal that by decreasing (increasing) the valve ratio, the droplet length of branch 1 decreases (increases) and the droplet length of branch 2 increases (decreases) linearly while the whole length of the droplet remains unchanged.
