This paper describes the functionalization of magnetoelastic (ME) materials with Parylene-C coating to improve the surface reactivity to cellular response. Previous study has demonstrated that vibrating ME materials were capable of modulating cellular adhesion when activated by an externally applied AC magnetic field. However, since ME materials are not inherently biocompatible, surface modifications are needed for their implementation in biological settings. Here, the long-term stability of the ME material in an aqueous and biological environment is achieved by chemical-vapor deposition of a conformal Parylene-C layer, and further functionalized by methods of oxygen plasma etching and protein adsorption. In vitro cytotoxicity measurement and characterization of the vibrational behavior of the ME materials showed that Parylene-C coatings of 10 µm or greater could prevent hydrolytic degradation without sacrificing the vibrational behavior of the ME material. This work allows for long-term durability and functionality of ME materials in an aqueous and biological environment and makes the potential use of this technology in monitoring and modulating cellular behavior at the surface of implantable devices feasible.

Objective. Histotripsy is a non-thermal focused ultrasound ablation method that destroys tissue through the generation of a cavitation bubble cloud. Previous work studying intrinsic threshold histotripsy has shown that dense bubble clouds can be formed by a single-cycle pulse when the negative pressure exceeds an intrinsic threshold of ∼25–30 MPa, with the ablation efficiency dependent upon the size and density of bubbles within the cloud. This work investigates the effects of frequency on bubble-cloud behavior and ablation efficiency in intrinsic threshold histotripsy. Approach. A modular transducer was used to expose agarose tissue phantoms to 500 kHz, 1 MHz, or 3 MHz, histotripsy pulses. Optical imaging was used to measure the bubble-cloud dimensions, bubble density, and bubble size. The effects of frequency on ablation efficiency were also investigated by applying histotripsy to red blood cell (RBC) phantoms. Main results. Results revealed that the bubble-cloud size closely matched theoretical predictions for all frequencies. The bubble density, which is a measure of the number of bubbles per unit area, was shown to increase with increasing frequency while the size of individual bubbles within the cloud decreased at higher frequencies. Finally, RBC phantom experiments showed decreasing ablation efficiency with increasing frequency. Significance. Overall, results demonstrate the effects of frequency on histotripsy bubble-cloud behavior and show that lower frequency generates more efficient tissue ablation, primarily due to enhanced bubble expansion.

This review article examines digital microfluidic systems that manipulate droplets through surface anisotropy. These systems are categorized as surface tension driven or contact line driven. Surface tension driven systems include electrowetting on dielectric, Marangoni flow on microheater arrays, and chemical gradient surfaces, whereas contact line driven systems include anisotropic ratchet conveyors, nanostructured Parylene ratchets, and tilted pillar arrays. This article describes the operating principles and outlines the fabrication procedures for each system. We also present new equations that unify several previous models of contact line driven systems. The strengths and weaknesses of each system are compared, with a focus on their ability to perform the generation, switching, fusion, and fission of droplets. Finally, we discuss current and potential future applications of these systems.

An S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) derivatization approach was used to modify existing free primary amines found in fibrin (a natural protein-based biomaterial) to generate a controlled nitric oxide (NO) releasing scaffold material. The duration of the derivatization reaction affects the NO release kinetics, the induction of controlled NO-release, hydrophobicity, swelling behavior, elastic moduli, rheometric character, and degradation behavior. These properties were quantified to determine changes in fibrin hydrogels following covalent attachment of SNAP. NO-releasing materials exhibited minimal cytotoxicity when cultured with fibroblasts or osteoblasts. Cells maintained viability and proliferative character on derivatized materials as demonstrated by Live/Dead cell staining and counting. In addition, SNAP-derivatized hydrogels exhibited an antimicrobial character indicative of NO-releasing materials. SNAP derivatization of natural polymeric biomaterials containing free primary amines offers a means to generate inducible NO-releasing biomaterials for use as an antimicrobial and regenerative support for tissue engineering.

An anisotropic ratchet conveyor is an asymmetric, periodic, micropatterned surface that propels droplets when vibrated with a sinusoidal signal at certain frequencies and amplitudes. For each input frequency, there is a threshold amplitude beyond which the droplet starts to move. In this paper, we study the parameters that initiate droplet motion and the relationship between the input frequency and threshold amplitude among droplets with different volume, density, viscosity, and surface tension. Through this investigation we demonstrate how nondimensionalization reveals consistent behavior for droplets of different volumes. Finally, we propose a compact model that captures the essential features of the system to describe how a pure vertical vibration results in horizontal droplet motion. This model provides an intuitive understanding of the underlying physics and explains how the surface asymmetry is the key for lateral droplet motion.

Magnetoelastic (ME) materials have many advantages for use as sensors and actuators due to their wireless, passive nature. This paper describes the application of ME materials as biodegradable implants with controllable degradation rates. Experiments have been conducted to show that degradation rates of ME materials are dependent on the material compositions. In addition, it was shown that the degradation rates of the ME materials can be controlled remotely by applying a magnetic field, which causes the ME materials to generate low-magnitude vibrations that hasten their degradation rates. Another concern of ME materials for medical applications is biocompatibility. Indirect cytotoxicity analyses were performed on two types of ME materials: Metglas™ 2826 MB (FeNiMoB) and iron–gallium alloy. While results indicate Metglas is not biocompatible, the degradation products of iron–gallium materials have shown no adverse effects on cell viability. Overall, these results present the possibility of using ME materials as biodegradable, magnetically-controlled active implants.

Anisotropic ratchet conveyors (ARC) are a type of digital microfluidic system. Unlike electrowetting based systems, ARCs transport droplets through a passive, micro-patterned surface and applied orthogonal vibrations. The mechanics of droplet transport on ARC devices has yet to be as well characterized and understood as on electrowetting systems. In this work, we investigate how the design of the ARC substrate affects the droplet response to vibrations and perform the first characterization of transport velocity on ARC devices. We discovered that the design of the ARC device has a significant effect on both the transport efficiency and velocity of actuated droplets, and that the amplitude of the applied vibration can modulate the velocity of transported droplets. Finally, we show that the movement of droplet edges is not continuous but rather the sum of quantized steps between features of the ARC device. These results provide new insights into the behavior of droplets vibrated on asymmetric surface patterns and will serve as the foundation for the design and development of future lab-on-a-chip systems.

The potential applications of DNA testing methods to combat illegal wildlife contraband (Dormontt et al., 2015; Wasser et al., 2018), determine the integrity of supply chains, (Golden & Warner, 2015) and monitor for invasive species (Dejean et al., 2012) or crop pests and pathogens (Randhawa et al., 2013) are undeniable. However, a critical barrier facing the routine use of DNA testing in supply chain management, conservation and law enforcement is the difficulty in preparing samples for DNA analysis. This process of DNA extraction-collecting samples, lysing tissue and purifying or isolating target DNA-is the most time and labour-intensive step of most DNA tests and typically requires trained laboratory personnel in a fully equipped laboratory to provide target DNA with a sufficient purity for reliable analysis (Buser et al., 2016; Fredricks et al., 2005; Wu et al., 2014). DNA analysis and test systems have advanced rapidly in recent years, providing systems that can be deployed outside the laboratory to rapidly identify genetic targets of interest through rapid isothermal amplification tests (Niemz et al., 2011; Yetisen et al., 2013) and even provide sequencing reads by identifying which bases are passing through a nanopore (Loman & Watson, 2015; Mikheyev &