The development of microelectrode arrays (MEAs) along with complementary advances in electronics, mechanics and software to connect with these arrays has led to the in vitro interfacing and benchtop electrophysiological models of several electrically active cells such as neurons and cardiomyocytes proving vital models and testing of human disease conditions in a dish/on a chip. This topical review deals with the micro/nanofabrication technology development of Microelectrodes Arrays from early silicon based developments to today’s additive manufacturing technologies that have been employed to address bio-micro-electro-mechanical systems tool development in this space. Specifically 2D and 3D MEAs technologies have been reviewed in this paper along with a broad overview of some of the biological applications using these devices that are advancing the very state of biomedical research.
In recent years biomedical scientific community has been working towards the development of high-throughput devices that allow a reliable, rapid and parallel detection of several strains of virus or microparticles simultaneously. One of the complexities of this problem lies on the rapid prototyping of new devices and wireless rapid detection of small particles and virus alike. By reducing the complexity of microfluidics microfabrication and using economic materials along with makerspace tools (Kundu et al.
2018
) it is possible to provide an affordable solution to both the problems of high-throughput devices and detection technologies. We present the development of a wireless, standalone device and disposable microfluidics chips that rapidly generate parallel readouts for selected, possible virus variants from a nasal or saliva sample, based on motorized and non-motorized microbeads detection, and imaging processing of the motion tracks of these beads in micrometers. Microbeads and SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 Delta variant were tested as proof-of-concept for testing the microfluidic cartridges and wireless imaging module. The Microbead Assay (MA) system kit consists of a Wi-Fi readout module, a microfluidic chip, and a sample collection/processing sub-system. Here, we focus on the fabrication and characterization of the microfluidic chip to multiplex various micrometer-sized beads for economic, disposable, and simultaneous detection of up to six different viruses, microparticles or variants in a single test, and data collection using a commercially available, Wi-Fi-capable, and camera integrated device (Fig.
1
).
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10544-023-00661-3.
In recent years biomedical scientific community has been working towards the development of high-throughput devices that allow a reliable, rapid and parallel detection of several strains of virus or microparticles simultaneously. One of the complexities of this problem lies on the rapid prototyping of new devices and wireless rapid detection of small particles and virus alike. By reducing the complexity of microfluidics microfabrication and using economic materials along with makerspace tools (Avra Kundu, Ausaf, and Rajaraman 2018) it is possible to provide an affordable solution to both the problems of high-throughput devices and detection technologies. We present the development of a wireless, standalone device and disposable microfluidics chips that rapidly generate parallel readouts for selected, possible virus variants from a nasal or saliva sample, based on motorized and non-motorized microbeads detection, and imaging processing of the motion tracks of these beads in micrometers. Microbeads and SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 Delta variant were tested as proof-of-concept for testing the microfluidic cartridges and wireless imaging module. The Microbead Assay (MA) system kit consists of a WiFi readout module, a microfluidic chip, and a sample collection/processing sub-system. Here, we focus on the fabrication and characterization of the microfluidic chip to multiplex various micrometer-sized beads for economic, disposable, and simultaneous detection of up to six different viruses, microparticles or variants in a single test, and data collection using a commercially available, WiFi-capable, and camera integrated device (Fig. 1).
A novel epitaxial growth and micromachining technology are used to form a thin single crystal silicon diaphragm for micromechanical sensors. Several micromachanical sensors, including pressure sensors and accelerometers require thin silicon diaphragms or beams for maximizing the device sensitivity. Controlling the precise thickness of the diaphragm or beam is a fundamental consideration in the design and manufacture of these sensors. Merged Epitaxial Lateral Overgrowth (MELO) of silicon and a Si02 etch-stop technology were sucessfully used to fabricate a diaphragm with a precise thickness. Two new methods were used for forming thin small area diaphragms and thin but large area diaphragms of single crystal silicon, which also formed a local Silicon on Insulator (SOI) structure. The Si02 layer undemeath the h4ELO silicon acts as a near perfect etch-stop while etching from the back-side of the wafer to form the diaphragm. The thickness of the diaphragm is defined by the SEGELO vertical growth rate(=O.lpm/min) rather than the various traditional etching techniques. The silicon epitaxial growth rate is the only controlling parameter to define the diaphragm thickness. An average growth uniformity of the MELO film across the three inch wafers were determined to be less than 5%. However, the average percentage variation of the growth at the same position on the wafer, from wafer to wafer in a single run, was measured to be within 2%.Diaphragms of (9 k 0.05)pm thick and more than 200pm wide and lOOOym long were sucessfully fabricated using this new technique.
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