Microfluidic technologies are frequently employed as point-of-care diagnostic tools for improving time-to-diagnosis and improving patient outcomes in clinical settings. These microfluidic devices often are designed to operate with peripheral equipment for liquid handling that increases the cost and complexity of these systems and reduces their potential for widespread adoption in low resource healthcare applications. Here, we present a low-cost (~$120), open-source peristaltic pump constructed with a combination of three dimensional (3D)-printed parts and common hardware, which is amenable to deployment with microfluidic devices for point-of-care diagnostics. This pump accepts commonly available silicone rubber tubing in a range of sizes from 1.5 to 3 mm, and is capable of producing flow rates up to 1.6 mL min −1 . This device is programmed with an Arduino microcontroller, allowing for custom flow profiles to fit a wide range of low volume liquid handling applications including precision liquid aliquoting, flow control within microfluidics, and generation of physiologically relevant forces for studying cellular mechanobiology within microfluidic systems.Microfluidic systems are ubiquitous tools within science and engineering laboratories around the world that enable low-cost and high throughput analysis via the miniaturization and parallelization of experimental systems. To enable broader applications and lower the barrier to entry for using microfluidic technology, developing open-source and low-cost tools for handling fluids is a promising avenue of research 1-3 . Open-source microfluidic tools could be particularly impactful when used for point-of-care diagnostics in resource limited settings. The growing use of microfluidics in point-of-care diagnostic roles is driven by the desire for more personalized medical treatments that are tailored to the specific pathologies identified in the patient 4-7 . This is because assays that can be performed at the point of care dramatically improve time-to-diagnosis, leading to improvements in medical practitioner decision making and patient outcomes 8 . In order for point-of-care diagnostic devices to be widely adopted into more clinical settings so that they can effectively improve healthcare outcomes, advances must be made in key enabling technologies, including improved microfluidic device designs, and improved peripheral systems for fluid actuation and sensing 9 . Increasing the use of open-source tools for future point-of-care diagnostic tools would enable reductions in system cost, and increase ease of use.Microfluidic point-of-care diagnostic systems must include three basic components: the physical microfluidic device, systems to read the assay output, and systems to control the flow of liquid reagents (Fig. 1A). The physical microfluidic device can be manufactured from a wide range of low-cost materials, including PDMS 10
An evolving understanding of disease pathogenesis has compelled the development of new drug delivery approaches. Recently, bioinspired microrobots have gained traction as drug delivery systems. By leveraging the microscale phenomena found in physiological systems, these microrobots can be designed with greater maneuverability, which enables more precise, controlled drug release. Their function could be further improved by testing their efficacy in physiologically relevant model systems as part of their development. In parallel with the emergence of microscale robots, organ-on-a-chip technologies have become important in drug discovery and physiological modeling. These systems reproduce organ-level functions in microfluidic devices, and can also incorporate specific biological, chemical, and physical aspects of a disease. This review highlights recent developments in both microrobotics and organ-on-a-chip technologies and envisions their combined use for developing future drug delivery systems.
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