We present a microelectrofusion method for construction of fluidstate lipid bilayer networks of high geometrical complexity up to fully connected networks with genus ‫؍‬ 3 topology. Within networks, self-organizing branching nanotube architectures could be produced where intersections spontaneously arrange themselves into three-way junctions with an angle of 120°between each nanotube. Formation of branching nanotube networks appears to follow a minimum-bending energy algorithm that solves for pathway minimization. It is also demonstrated that materials can be injected into specific containers within a network by nanotubemediated transport of satellite vesicles having defined contents. Using a combination of microelectrofusion, spontaneous nanotube pattern formation, and satellite-vesicle injection, complex networks of containers and nanotubes can be produced for a range of applications in, for example, nanofluidics and artificial cell design. In addition, this electrofusion method allows integration of biological cells into lipid nanotube-vesicle networks.T he last two decades have witnessed a tremendous development in miniaturization of fluidic devices. The rapid progress in processing hard materials such as silicon and metals (1), polymeric materials such as polydimethylsiloxane (2), and parylenes (3) together with advancements in flow regulation (4, 5) have made it possible to manufacture complex chip structures for a wide range of applications, including chemical kinetics (6), computations (7), and chemical analysis (8).The ultimate fluidic device is one that can handle single molecules and colloid particles. Such devices require unprecedented control over transport and mixing behaviors, and to advance current fluidics into the single-molecule regime, we have to develop systems having physical dimensions in the nanometer scale. To create such devices, we can draw much knowledge from biological systems. For example, the Golgiendoplasmic reticulum network in eukaryotic cells has many attractive features for sorting and routing of single molecules, such as ultra-small-scale dimension, transport control, and capability to recognize different molecular species, and for performing chemical transformations in nanometer-sized compartments with minimal dilution. It is, however, extremely difficult to mimic these biological systems by using traditional microfabrication technologies and materials because of their small scale, complex geometries, and advanced topologies. Furthermore, it is difficult to implement traditional flow regulation methods on nanoscale systems.Our efforts are focused mainly on the development of soft microfabrication technologies for processing of fluid-state liquid crystalline bilayer membranes. These materials have unique mechanical properties allowing creation of nanoscale structures, such as spheres and tubes with extremely high curvatures (9). The geometry of such structures is governed by both selfassembling and self-organizing properties of the lipid membrane material and can be changed o...

Using the concept of insulator-based "electrodeless" dielectrophoresis, we present a novel geometry for shaping electric fields to achieve lateral deviation of particles in liquid flows. The field is generated by lateral planar metal electrodes and is guided along access channels to the active area in the main channel. The equipotential surfaces at the apertures of the access channels behave as vertical "liquid" electrodes injecting the current into the main channel. The field between a pair of adjacent liquid electrodes generates the lateral dielectrophoretic force necessary for particle manipulation. We use this force for high-speed deviation of particles. By adding a second pair of liquid electrodes, we focus a particle stream. The position of the focused stream can be swept across the channel by adjusting the ratio of the voltages applied to the two pairs. Based on conformal mapping, we provide an analytical model for estimating the potential at the liquid electrodes and the field distribution in the main channel. We show that the simulated particle trajectories agree with observations. Finally, we show that the model can be used to optimize the device geometry in different applications.

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We present a novel, inexpensive, and fast microimpedance tomography system for two-dimensional imaging of cell and tissue cultures. The system is based on four-electrode measurements using 16 planar microelectrodes (5 microm x 4 mm) integrated into a culture chamber. An Agilent 4294A impedance analyzer combined with a front-end amplifier is used for the impedance measurements. Two-dimensional images are obtained using a reconstruction algorithm. This system is capable of accurately resolving the shape and position of a human hair, yielding vertical cross sections of the object. Human epithelial stem cells (YF 29) are also grown directly on the device surface. Tissue growth can be followed over several days. A rapid resistivity decrease caused by permeabilized cell membranes is also monitored, suggesting that this technique can be used in electroporation studies.

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We present the use of an array of rectangular microelectrodes to discriminate between different resistivities in a thin, layered sample. Each electrode was 8 mm long and 200 nm thick. The electrode widths ranged from 20 to 500 microm. The electrodes were designed such that all pairs of consecutive electrodes had the same relative geometry, and therefore identical cell constants. A hydrogel-based tissue phantom, made by photopolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), was developed. By changing the hydrogel composition and the ionic strength of the storage medium, the resistivity of the hydrogels could be tuned between 100 omegam and 100 komegam. Using bipolar measurements, the tissue phantoms were characterized in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 30 MHz. The relative resistivity distribution of a three-layered structure composed of 120 microm sheets could be calculated and was shown to agree to within 7% of the bulk measurements. Potential clinical applications for this technique include probing of epithelial tissue and skin cancer screening.

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