Search results for: microfluidic chips

Authors: Ahmet Erten, Adil Mustafa, Ayşenur Eser, Özlem Yalçın

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We present a new viscometer based on a microfluidic chip with elastic high aspect ratio micropillar arrays. The displacement of pillar tips in flow direction can be used to analyze viscosity of liquid. In our work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to analyze pillar displacement of various micropillar array configurations in flow direction at different viscosities. Following CFD optimization, micro-CNC based rapid prototyping is used to fabricate molds for microfluidic chips. Microfluidic chips are fabricated out of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) using soft lithography methods with molds machined out of aluminum. Tip displacements of micropillar array (300 µm in diameter and 1400 µm in height) in flow direction are recorded using a microscope mounted camera, and the displacements are analyzed using image processing with an algorithm written in MATLAB. Experiments are performed with water-glycerol solutions mixed at 4 different ratios to attain 1 cP, 5 cP, 10 cP and 15 cP viscosities at room temperature. The prepared solutions are injected into the microfluidic chips using a syringe pump at flow rates from 10-100 mL / hr and the displacement versus flow rate is plotted for different viscosities. A displacement of around 1.5 µm was observed for 15 cP solution at 60 mL / hr while only a 1 µm displacement was observed for 10 cP solution. The presented viscometer design optimization is still in progress for better sensitivity and accuracy. Our microfluidic viscometer platform has potential for tailor made microfluidic chips to enable real time observation and control of viscosity changes in biological or chemical reactions.

Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), high aspect ratio, micropillar array, viscometer

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Authors: Jan Jezek, Zdenek Pilat, Filip Smatlo, Pavel Zemanek

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We present a device that combines fluorescence spectroscopy with fiber optics and dielectrophoretic micromanipulation in PDMS (poly-(dimethylsiloxane)) microfluidic chips. The device allows high speed detection (in the order of kHz) of the fluorescence signal, which is coming from the sample by an inserted optical fiber, e.g. from a micro-droplet flow in a microfluidic chip, or even from the liquid flowing in the transparent capillary, etc. The device uses a laser diode at a wavelength suitable for excitation of fluorescence, excitation and emission filters, optics for focusing the laser radiation into the optical fiber, and a highly sensitive fast photodiode for detection of fluorescence. The device is combined with dielectrophoretic sorting on a chip for sorting of micro-droplets according to their fluorescence intensity. The electrodes are created by lift-off technology on a glass substrate, or by using channels filled with a soft metal alloy or an electrolyte. This device found its use in screening of enzymatic reactions and sorting of individual fluorescently labelled microorganisms. The authors acknowledge the support from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GA16-07965S) and Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (LO1212) together with the European Commission (ALISI No. CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0017).

Keywords: dielectrophoretic sorting, fiber optics, laser, microfluidic chips, microdroplets, spectroscopy

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Authors: Shigenori Togashi, Yukako Asano

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We developed an effective microfluidic device for photoreactions with low reflectance and good heat conductance. The performance of this microfluidic device was tested by carrying out a photoreactive synthesis of benzopinacol and acetone from benzophenone and 2-propanol. The yield reached 36% with an irradiation time of 469.2 s and was improved by more than 30% when compared to the values obtained by the batch method. Therefore, the microfluidic device was found to be effective for improving the yields of photoreactions.

Keywords: microfluidic device, photoreaction, black aluminum oxide, benzophenone, yield improvement

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Authors: Dimitar N. Karastoianov, Stanislav D. Gyoshev, Todor N. Penchev

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Preparation of briquettes of metal chips with good density and quality is of great importance for the efficiency of this process. In this paper are presented the results of impact briquetting of grey cast iron chips with rectangular shape and dimensions 15x25x1 mm. Density and quality of briquettes of these chips are compared with those obtained in another work of the authors using cast iron chips with smaller sizes. It has been found that by using a rectangular chips with a large size are produced briquettes with a very low density and poor quality. From the photographs taken by X-ray tomography, it is clear that the reason for this is the orientation of the chip in the peripheral wall of the briquettes, which does not allow of the air to escape from it. It was concluded that in order to obtain briquettes of cast iron chips with a large size, these chips must first be ground, for example in a small ball mill.

Keywords: briquetting, chips, impact, rocket engine

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Authors: Fidiana Suwitho

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Research and community service is one of important lecturer assignment in Indonesia. This article was made to meet those needs by assisting home industry entrepreneurs of various chips in Banyuwangi. Community service in this scheme are intended to increase the revenue of craftsmen of chips by improving value added of chips through food engineering technology. Ibu Anisa has produced various kinds of chips that are breadfruit chips, banana chips, yam chips, and cassava chips. In business development, Ibu Anisa facing various problems both in terms of production and management aspects. The process of production and management and marketing are still conventional so that increased demand cannot be offset by production capacity. A researcher team of STIESIA has assist partners in the processing stage, from manually to the technologically. This activity has a positive impact to However, this process has not been reached on sustainable marketing aspect, which is where the partners are still difficult to reach a wider market because of limited access.

Keywords: food engineering technology, value added of chips, community service

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Authors: Todor Penchev, Dimitar Karastojanov, Ivan Altaparmakov

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For briquetting of metal chips are used hydraulic and mechanical presses. The density of the briquettes in this case is about 60% - 70 % on the density of solid metal. In this work are presented the results of experimental studies for briquetting of metal chips, by using a new technology for impact briquetting. The used chips are by Armco iron, steel, cast iron, copper, aluminum and brass. It has been found that: (i) in a controlled impact the density of the briquettes can be increases up to 30%; (ii) at the same specific impact energy Es (J/sm3) the density of the briquettes increases with increasing of the impact velocity; (iii), realization of the repeated impact leads to decrease of chips density, which can be explained by distribution of elastic waves in the briquette.

Keywords: briquetting, chips briquetting, impact briquetting, controlled impact

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Authors: R. S. Fisca, Y. R. Elox, L. Umi, U. Z. Luttfia, Kun Harismah

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Petai (Parkia speciosa) is a plant indigenous to Southeast Asia. It is consumed either raw or cooked. It has been used in folk medicine to treat diabetes, hypertension, and kidney problems. It contains minerals and vitamins. Petai contains a lot of chemical compounds that are beneficial for health, including antioxidants, Vitamin B6 0,9mg, energy 142 g. cal, 10.4 g protein. 2 g fat, 22 g carbohydrates, 95 mg calcium, phosphorus 115 mg, 1 mg iron, 200 IU of vitamin A, vitamin B1 0.17 mg, 36 mg of vitamin C that can resolve various health problems. These chips are the result of innovation from petai packaged in such a way becomes a tasty snack chips and can be enjoyed by many people to relax and also nutritious for health. In the manufacture of petai chips require several steps of them start by boiling, flating, drying and the last frying. In introducing the products widely we sell petai chips with several methods. Some of these methods include direct sales, delivery order, online/social media, and open some booth at a few places and the car free day in Solo every sunday. Opportunity in selling petai chips is very wide because there is no competitors with similar business. With the innovation of petai chips become healthy snacks can be introduced to the public and can even be exported out of the country as one of the extraordinary snacks from Indonesia.

Keywords: antioxidants, chips, healty, petai

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Authors: Arunas Stirke, Neringa Bakute, Gatis Mozolevskis

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A technology of microfluidics is an emerging tool in the field of biology, medicine and chemistry. Microfluidic device is also known as ‘lab-on-a-chip’ technology [1]. In moving from macro- to microscale, there is unprecedented control over spatial and temporal gradients and patterns that cannot be captured in conventional Petri dishes and well plates [2]. However, there is not a single standard microfluidic chip designated for all purposes – every different field of studies needs a specific microchip with certain geometries, inlet/outlet, channel depth and other parameters to precisely regulate the required function. Since our group is studying an effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) to the cells, we have manufactured a microfluidic chip designated for high-throughput electroporation of cells. In our microchip, a cell culture chamber is divided into two parallel channels by a membrane, meanwhile electrodes for electroporation are attached to the wall of the channels. Both microchannels have their own inlet and outlet, enabling injection of transfection material separately. Our perspective is to perform electroporation of mammalian cells in two different ways: (1) plasmid and cells are injected in the same microchannel and (2) injected into separate microchannels. Moreover, oxygen and pH sensors are integrated on order to analyse cell viability parameters after PEF treatment.

Keywords: microfluidics, chip, fabrication, electroporation

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Authors: Shuyi Wu, Chuang Li, Quanshui Zheng, Luping Xu

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Stretching and snipping DNA molecule by microfluidic has important application value in gene analysis by lab on a chip. Movement, deformation and fragmenting of DNA in microfluidic are typical fluid-solid coupling problems. An efficient and common simulation system for researching the movement, deformation and fragmenting of DNA by microfluidic has not been well developed. In our study, Brownian dynamics-finite element method (BD-FEM) is used to simulate the dynamic process of stretching and fragmenting DNA by contraction flow. The shape and parameters of micro-channels are changed to optimize the stretching and fragmenting properties of DNA. Our results indicate that strain rate, resulting from contraction microchannel, is the main control parameter for stretching and fragmenting DNA. There is good consistency between the simulation data and previous experimental result about the single DNA molecule behavior and averaged fragmenting properties in this study. BD-FEM method is an efficient calculating tool to research stretching and fragmenting behavior of single DNA molecule and optimize microfluidic devices for manipulating, stretching and fragmenting DNA.

Keywords: fragmenting, DNA, microfluidic, optimize.

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Authors: R. Ziaie Moayed, M. Hamidzadeh

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The use of waste rubber chips not only can be of great importance in terms of the environment, but also can be used to increase the shear strength of soils. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the variation of the internal friction angle of liquefiable sandy soil using waste rubber chips. For this purpose, the geotechnical properties of unmodified and modified soil samples by waste lining rubber chips have been evaluated and analyzed by performing the triaxial consolidated drained test. In order to prepare the laboratory specimens, the sandy soil in part of Rudsar shores in Gilan province, north of Iran with high liquefaction potential has been replaced by two percent of waste rubber chips. Samples have been compressed until reaching the two levels of density of 15.5 and 16.7 kN/m³. Also, in order to find the optimal length of chips in sandy soil, the rectangular rubber chips with the widths of 0.5 and 1 cm and the lengths of 0.5, 1, and 2 cm were used. The results showed that the addition of rubber chips to liquefiable sandy soil greatly increases the shear resistance of these soils. Also, it can be seen that decreasing the width and increasing the length-to-width ratio of rubber chips has a direct impact on the shear strength of the modified soil samples with rubber chips.

Keywords: improvement, shear strength, internal friction angle, sandy soil, rubber chip

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Authors: Seyed Abolhasan Naeini, Hamidreza Rahmani

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Laboratory consolidated undrained triaxial (CU) tests were carried out to study the strength behavior of silty soil reinforced with randomly plastic waste bottle chips. Specimens mixed with plastic waste chips in triaxial compression tests with 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0, and 1.25% by dry weight of soil and tree different length including 4, 8, and 12 mm. In all of the samples, the width and thickness of plastic chips were kept constant. According to the results, the amount and size of plastic waste bottle chips played an important role in the increasing of the strength parameters of reinforced silt compared to the pure soil. Because of good results, the suggested method of soil improvement can be used in many engineering problems such as increasing the bearing capacity and settlement reduction in foundations.

Keywords: reinforcement, silt, soil improvement, triaxial test, waste bottle chips

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Authors: Djeukeu Asongni William, Leng Marlyse, Gouado Inocent

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Background: Process for obtaining D. schimperiana chips involves a long period of cooking followed by drying of obtained products in the sun. Such a process could induce the modification of the functional properties of the chips, thus reducing the technological uses of these products. This study was conducted with a view to assessing the impact of this process on the chips of D. schimperiana. Methods: The chips used were purchased in Baham, Bamendjou and Bagangté markets during the month of February 2013. A representative sample of each market chips was formed by mixing the chips of several sellers. The control sample consisted of fresh yams that have been sliced to the average size of local chips then dried in the oven at 45 ° C for 36 h. On each sample was performed the analysis of the physico-chemical properties (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, iron , phosphorus, reducing sugars, ash and total starch) and gelling properties both with and without inhibitor alpha-amylases (0.018 and 0.146 mol / l). Results: Results show that the levels of ash 2.99 g / 100gms, iron 1.01 g / 100gms and phosphorus 532.06 mg / 100gms fresh sample were significantly higher than those of the products obtained in the traditional process. The functional properties of the chips obtained from different methods shows that the peak viscosity of the fresh sample is larger than the other samples with or without inhibitor. In addition, the fresh sample has the lowest breakdown under the same conditions. Conclusion: These results show that traditional process reduces technological potential of chips, thus limiting the value of D. schimperiana.

Keywords: Dioscorea schimperiana, chips, functional properties, technological properties, valorization

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Authors: Reza Hadjiaghaie Vafaie, Aysan Madanpasandi, Behrooz Zare Desari, Seyedmohammad Mousavi

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High lamination in microchannel is one of the main challenges in on-chip components like micro total analyzer systems and lab-on-a-chips. Electro-osmotic force is highly effective in chip-scale. This research proposes a microfluidic-based micropump for low ionic strength solutions. Narrow microchannels are designed to generate an efficient electroosmotic flow near the walls. Microelectrodes are embedded in the lateral sides and actuated by low electric potential to generate pumping effect inside the channel. Based on the simulation study, the fluid velocity increases by increasing the electric potential amplitude. We achieve a net flow velocity of 100 µm/s, by applying +/- 2 V to the electrode structures. Our proposed low voltage design is of interest in conventional lab-on-a-chip applications.

Keywords: integration, electrokinetic, on-chip, fluid pumping, microfluidic

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Authors: Nuntaporn Aukkanit

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Objective of this study was to investigate hydrocolloids (pectin, carboxyl methylcellulose, and alginate) for their influences on the oil absorption in vacuum fried mango chips. Usage of hydrocolloids significantly (p≤0.05) affected fried mango oil uptake. Control samples (without hydrocolloids) had high fat content at 24.57g/100g whereas other samples, treated with 0.5g pectin/100ml water exhibited the highest decrease of oil absorption. Fat content of chips, treated with 0.5 g pectin /100ml was 14.01g/100g. With this concentration of pectin at 0.5 g /100ml, fat content could be reduced by 43%. Moreover, chips treated with 0.5 g pectin/100ml water had the highest sensory scores (color, appearance, crispiness and overall acceptability). These results showed that pectin was the most effective hydrocolloid for low fat vacuum fried mango chips production.

Keywords: alginate, carboxyl methylcellulose, hydrocolloids, oil absorption, pectin, vacuum fried mango chips

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Authors: Delara Soltani, Sajad Alimohammadi, Tim Persoons

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Microfluidic technology reveals a new area of research in drug delivery, biomedical diagnostics, and the food and chemical industries. Mixing is an essential part of microfluidic devices. There is a need for fast and homogeneous mixing in microfluidic devices. On the other hand, mixing is difficult to achieve in microfluidic devices because of the size and laminar flow in these devices. In this study, a hybrid passive micromixer of a curved channel with obstacles inside the channel is designed. The computational fluid dynamic method is employed to solve governing equations. The results show that using obstacles can improve mixing efficiency in spiral micromixers. the effects of Reynolds number, number, and position of baffles are investigated. In addition, the effect of baffles on pressure drop is presented. this novel micromixer has the potential to utilize in microfluidic devices.

Keywords: CFD, micromixer, microfluidics, spiral, reynolds number

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Authors: Chih-Wei Chao, Jiashing Yu

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Microfluidic devices have recently emerged as promising tools for the fabrication of scaffolds for cell culture. To mimic the natural circumstances of organism for cells to grow, here we present three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds fabricated by microfluidics for cells cultivation. This work aims at investigating the behavior in terms of the viability and the proliferation capability of rat H9c2 cardiomyocytes in the gelatin 3D scaffolds by fluorescent images.

Keywords: microfluidic device, H9c2, tissue engineering, 3D scaffolds

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Authors: M. S. Kaiser, S. Reaz Ahmed

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Chip formation characteristics are investigated during surface finishing of high density polyethylene (HDPE) samples using a shaper machine. Both the cutting speed and depth of cut are varied continually to enable observations under various machining conditions. The generated chips are analyzed in terms of their shape, size, and deformation. Their physical appearances are also observed using digital camera and optical microscope. The investigation shows that continuous chips are obtained for all the cutting conditions. It is observed that cutting speed is more influential than depth of cut to cause dimensional changes of chips. Chips curl radius is also found to increase gradually with the increase of cutting speed. The length of continuous chips remains always smaller than the job length, and the corresponding discrepancies are found to be more prominent at lower cutting speed. Microstructures of the chips reveal that cracks are formed at higher cutting speeds and depth of cuts, which is not that significant at low depth of cut.

Keywords: HDPE, surface-finishing, chip formation, deformation, roughness

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Authors: Sito Ismanti, Noriyuki Yasufuku

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Cement utilization to improve the properties of soil is a well-known method applied in field. However, its addition in large quantity must be controlled. This study presents utilization of natural and environmental-friendly material mixed with small amount of cement content in soil improvement, i.e. bamboo chips. Absorbability, elongation, and flatness ratio of bamboo chips were examined to investigate and understand the influence of its characteristics in the mixture. Improvement of dilation behavior as a problem of loose and poorly graded sand soil is discussed. Bamboo chips are able to improve the permeability value that affects the dilation behavior of cemented sand soil. It is proved by the stress path as the result of triaxial compression test in the undrained condition. The effect of size and content variation of bamboo chips, as well as the curing time variation are presented and discussed.  

Keywords: bamboo chips, permeability, mechanical properties, triaxial compression

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Authors: Benaouda Hemza

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This work on the characterization of structural elements in metal fiber concrete is devoted to the study of recyclability, as reinforcement for concrete, of chips resulting from the machining of steel parts. We are interested in this study to the rheological behavior of fresh chips reinforced concrete and its mechanical behavior at a young age. The evaluation of the workability with the LCL workabilimeter shows that optimal sand gravel ratios (S/G) are S/G=0.8, and S/G=1. The study of the content chips (W%) influence on the workability of the concrete shows that the flow time and the S/G optimum increase with W%. For S/G=1.4, the flow time is practically insensitive to the variation of W%, the concrete behavior is similar to that of self-compacting concrete. Mechanical characterization tests (direct tension, compression, bending, and splitting) show that the mechanical properties of chips concrete are comparable to those of the two selected reference concretes (concrete reinforced with conventional fibers: EUROSTEEL fibers corrugated and DRAMIX fibers). Chips provide a significant increase in strength and some ductility in the post-failure behavior of the concrete. Recycling chips as reinforcement for concrete can be favorably considered.

Keywords: fiber concrete, chips, workability, direct tensile test, compression test, bending test, splitting test

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Authors: Ammari Abdelhammid

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This work on the characterization of structural elements in metal fiber concrete is devoted to the study of recyclability, as reinforcement for concrete, of chips resulting from the machining of steel parts. We're interested in this study to the Rheological behavior of fresh chips reinforced concrete and its mechanical behavior at a young age. The evaluation of the workability with the LCL workabilimeter shows that optimal sand gravel ratios ( S/G) are S/G = 0.8 and S/G = 1. The study of the content chips (W%) influence on the workability of the concrete shows that the flow time and the S/G optimum increase with W%. For S/G = 1.4, the flow time is practically insensitive to the variation of W%, the concrete behavior is similar to that of self-compacting concrete. Mechanical characterization tests (direct tension, compression, bending, and splitting) show that the mechanical properties of chips concrete are comparable to those of the two selected reference concretes (concrete reinforced with conventional fibers: Eurosteel fibers corrugated and Dramix fibers). Chips provide a significant increase in strength and some ductility in the post-failure behavior of the concrete. Recycling chips as reinforcement for concrete can be favorably considered.

Keywords: fiber concrete, chips, workability, direct tensile test, compression test, bending test, splitting test

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Authors: Ehsan Yazdanpanah Moghadam, Muthukumaran Packirisamy

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In the present study, a design of the suspended polymeric microfluidic platform is introduced that is fabricated with three polymeric layers. Changing the microchannel plane to be perpendicular to microcantilever plane, drastically decreases moment of inertia in that direction. In addition, the platform is made of polymer (around five orders of magnitude less compared to silicon). It causes significant increase in the sensitivity of the cantilever deflection. Next, although the dimensions of this platform are constant, by misaligning the embedded microchannels laterally in the suspended microfluidic platform, the sensitivity can be highly increased. The investigation is studied on four fluids including water, seawater, milk, and blood for flow ranges from low rate of 5 to 70 µl/min to obtain the best design with the highest sensitivity. The best design in this study shows the sensitivity increases around 50% for water, seawater, milk, and blood at the flow rate of 70 µl/min by just misaligning the embedded microchannels in the suspended polymeric microfluidic platform.

Keywords: microfluidic, MEMS, biosensor, microresonator

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Authors: A. Zahra, G. de Cesare, D. Caputo, A. Nascetti

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PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane) polymer is a suitable material for biological and MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) designers, because of its biocompatibility, transparency and high resistance under plasma treatment. PDMS round channel is always been of great interest due to its ability to confine the liquid with membrane type micro valves. In this paper we are presenting a very simple way to form round shape microfluidic channel, which is based on reflow of positive photoresist AZ® 40 XT. With this method, it is possible to obtain channel of different height simply by varying the spin coating parameters of photoresist.

Keywords: lab-on-chip, PDMS, reflow, round microfluidic channel

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Authors: Eunseop Yeom

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Many cardiovascular diseases, such as thrombosis and atherosclerosis, can change biochemical molecules in plasma and red blood cell. These alterations lead to excessive increase of blood viscosity contributing to peripheral vascular diseases. In this study, a simple microfluidic-based method is used to measure blood viscosity. Microfluidic device is composed of two parallel side channels and a bridge channel. To estimate blood viscosity, blood samples and reference fluid are separately delivered into each inlet of two parallel side channels using pumps. An interfacial line between blood samples and reference fluid occurs by blocking the outlet of one side-channel. Since width for this interfacial line is determined by pressure ratio between blood and reference flows, blood viscosity can be estimated by measuring width for this interfacial line. This microfluidic-based method can be used for evaluating variations in the viscosity of animal models with cardiovascular diseases under flow conditions.

Keywords: blood viscosity, microfluidic chip, pressure, shear rate

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Authors: Kunal Das, Priya Sengupta, Abhishek K. Singh

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Pin assignment, scheduling, routing and error detection for arbitrary biochemical protocols in Digital Microfluidic Biochip have been reported in this paper. The research work is concentrating on pin assignment for 2 or 3 droplets routing in the arbitrary biochemical protocol, scheduling and routing in m × n biochip. The volumetric error arises due to droplet split in the biochip. The volumetric error detection is also addressed using biochip AND logic gate which is known as microfluidic AND or mAND gate. The algorithm for pin assignment for m × n biochip required m+n-1 numbers of pins. The basic principle of this algorithm is that no same pin will be allowed to be placed in the same column, same row and diagonal and adjacent cells. The same pin should be placed a distance apart such that interference becomes less. A case study also reported in this paper.

Keywords: digital microfludic biochip, cross-contamination, pin assignment, microfluidic AND gate

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Authors: Kebin Li, Keith Morton, Matthew Shiu, Karine Turcotte, Luke Lukic, Teodor Veres

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We present a normally closed thermoplastic microfluidic valve design that uses microstructured valve seats to locally prevent the membrane from bonding to the valve seat during microfluidic channel sealing. The microstructured valve seat reduces the adhesion force between the contact surfaces of the valve seat and the membrane locally, allowing valve open and close operations while simultaneously providing a permanent and robust bond elsewhere to cover and seal the microfluidic channel network. Dynamic valve operation including opening and closing times can be tuned by changing the valve seat diameter as well as the density of the microstructures on the valve seats. The influence of the microstructured valve seat on the general flow behavior through the microfluidic devices was also studied. A design window for the fabrication of valve structure is identified and discussed to minimize the fabrication complexity.

Keywords: hot-embossing, injection molding, microfabrication, microfluidics, microvalves, thermoplastic elastomer

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Authors: Samineh Barmaki, Ville Jokinen, Esko Kankuri

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We report a microfluidic chip that can be used to modify the gaseous microenvironment of a cell-culture in ambient atmospheric conditions. The aim of the study is to show the cellular response to nitric oxide (NO) under hypoxic (oxygen < 5%) condition. Simultaneously targeting to hypoxic and nitric oxide will provide an opportunity for NO‑based therapeutics. Studies on cellular responses to lowered oxygen concentration or to gaseous mediators are usually carried out under a specific macro environment, such as hypoxia chambers, or with specific NO donor molecules that may have additional toxic effects. In our study, the chip consists of a microfluidic layer and a cell culture well, separated by a thin gas permeable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane. The main design goal is to separate the gas oxygen scavenger and NO donor solutions, which are often toxic, from the cell media. Two different types of gas exchangers, titled 'pool' and 'meander' were tested. We find that the pool design allows us to reach a higher level of oxygen depletion than meander (24.32 ± 19.82 %vs -3.21 ± 8.81). Our microchip design can make the cells culture more simple and makes it easy to adapt existing cell culture protocols. Our first application is utilizing the chip to create hypoxic conditions on targeted areas of cell culture. In this study, oxygen scavenger sodium sulfite generates hypoxia and its effect on human embryonic kidney cells (HEK-293). The PDMS membrane was coated with fibronectin before initiating cell cultures, and the cells were grown for 48h on the chips before initiating the gas control experiments. The hypoxia experiments were performed by pumping of O₂-depleted H₂O into the microfluidic channel with a flow-rate of 0.5 ml/h. Image-iT® reagent as an oxygen level responser was mixed with HEK-293 cells. The fluorescent signal appears on cells stained with Image-iT® hypoxia reagent (after 6h of pumping oxygen-depleted H₂O through the microfluidic channel in pool area). The exposure to different levels of O₂ can be controlled by varying the thickness of the PDMS membrane. Recently, we improved the design of the microfluidic chip, which can control the microenvironment of two different gases at the same time. The hypoxic response was also improved from the new design of microchip. The cells were grown on the thin PDMS membrane for 30 hours, and with a flowrate of 0.1 ml/h; the oxygen scavenger was pumped into the microfluidic channel. We also show that by pumping sodium nitroprusside (SNP) as a nitric oxide donor activated under light and can generate nitric oxide on top of PDMS membrane. We are aiming to show cellular microenvironment response of HEK-293 cells to both nitric oxide (by pumping SNP) and hypoxia (by pumping oxygen scavenger solution) in separated channels in one microfluidic chip.

Keywords: hypoxia, nitric oxide, microenvironment, microfluidic chip, sodium nitroprusside, SNP

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Authors: Dimitri Bigot, Bruno Malet-Damour, Jérôme Vigneron

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Many studies have been made about using bio-based materials in buildings. The goal is to reduce its environmental footprint by analyzing its life cycle. This can lead to minimize the carbon emissions or energy consumption. A previous work proposed to numerically study the feasibility of using wood chips to regulate relative humidity inside a building. This has shown the capability of a wood chips bed to regulate humidity inside the building, to improve thermal comfort, and so potentially reduce building energy consumption. However, it also shown that some physical parameters of the wood chips must be identified to validate the proposed model and the associated results. This paper presents an experimental setup able to study such a wood chips bed with different solicitations. It consists of a simple duct filled with wood chips and crossed by an air flow with variable temperature and relative humidity. Its main objective is to study the thermal behavior of the wood chips bed by controlling temperature and relative humidity of the air that enters into it and by observing the same parameters at the output. First, the experimental set up is described according to previous results. A focus is made on the particular properties that have to be characterized. Then some case studies are presented in relation to the previous results in order to identify the key physical properties. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed technology is discussed, and some model validation paths are given.

Keywords: wood chips bed, experimental set-up, bio-based material, desiccant, relative humidity, water content, thermal behaviour, air treatment

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Authors: Daniel Nieto, Ramiro Couceiro

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Microfluidic chips have demonstrated their significant application potentials in microbiological processing and chemical reactions, with the goal of developing monolithic and compact chip-sized multifunctional systems. Heat generation and thermal control are critical in some of the biochemical processes. The paper presents a laser direct-write technique for rapid prototyping and manufacturing of microheater chips and its applicability for perfusion cell culture outside a cell incubator. The aim of the microheater is to take the role of conventional incubators for cell culture for facilitating microscopic observation or other online monitoring activities during cell culture and provides portability of cell culture operation. Microheaters (5 mm × 5 mm) have been successfully fabricated on soda-lime glass substrates covered with aluminum layer of thickness 120 nm. Experimental results show that the microheaters exhibit good performance in temperature rise and decay characteristics, with localized heating at targeted spatial domains. These microheaters were suitable for a maximum long-term operation temperature of 120ºC and validated for long-time operation at 37ºC. for 24 hours. Results demonstrated that the physiology of the cultured SW480 adenocarcinoma of the colon cell line on the developed microheater chip was consistent with that of an incubator.

Keywords: laser microfabrication, microheater, bioengineering, cell culture

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Authors: Djamal Atlaoui, Youcef Bouafia

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This work deals with the experimental study of the mechanical behavior, by shear tests (fracture shear), elements of concrete beams reinforced with fibers in chips. These fibers come from the machining waste of the steel parts. The shear tests are carried out on prismatic specimens of dimensions 10 x 20 x 120 cm³. The fibers are characterized by mechanical resistance and tearing. The optimal composition of the concrete was determined by the workability test. Two fiber contents are selected for this study (W = 0.6% and W = 0.8%) and a BT control concrete (W = 0%) of the same composition as the matrix is developed to serve as a reference with a sand-to-gravel ratio (S/G) of concrete matrix equal to 1. The comparison of the different results obtained shows that the chips fibers confer a significant ductility to the material after cracking of the concrete. Also, the fibers used limit diagonal cracks in shear and improve strength and rigidity.

Keywords: characterization, chips fibers, cracking mode, ductility, undulation, shear

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Authors: M. Zehtabian, Z. Molaiemanesh, Z. Shafahi, M. Papie, M. Zahraie Moghaddam, M. Mehralizadeh, M. R. Vahidi, S. Sina

Abstract:

The introduction of CT scans has been a great improvement in diagnosis of different diseases. However, this imaging modality can expose the patients to cumulative radiation doses which may increase the risks of some health problems like cancer. In this study, the dose delivered to different organs in lumbar-abdominal imaging was measured by putting the TLD-100, and TLD-100H chips inside the Alderson Rando phantom. The lumbar-abdominal image of the phantom was obtained, while TLD chips were inside the holes of the phantom. According to the results obtained in this study using TLD-100 chips, the average dose received by liver, bladder, rectum, kidneys, and uterus were found to be 12.9 mSv, 8.9 mSv, 10.1 mSv, 11.0 mSv, 11.2 mSv, and 10.5 mSv respectively, while the measurements performed by TLD-100H show that the average dose to liver, bladder, rectum, kidneys, and uterus were found to be 12.4 mSv, 9.2 mSv, 9.5 mSv, 10.5 mSv, 10.7 mSv, and 9.9 mSv respectively. The results of this study indicates that the dose measured by the TLD-100H chips are in close agreement with those obtained by TLD-100.

Keywords: CT scan, dose, TLD-100, diagnosis

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