A Multiwell Microfluidic Device for Analyzing and Screening Nonhormonal Contraceptive Agents

Abstract

Birth control and family planning play pivotal roles in the economic growth and reduction of maternal, infant, and child mortality. Current contraceptives, such as hormonal agents and intrauterine devices, target only a small subset of reproductive processes and can have serious side effects on the health of women. To develop novel contraceptive agents, a scalable microfluidic device is established for analyzing and screening the effects of potential contraceptive agents on the maturation of the cumulus–oocyte complex. The microfluidic device performs on‐chip incubation for studying oocyte maturation and cumulus expansion and isolates the microwells by oil–water interfaces to avoid crosstalk between the wells. A filter membrane is incorporated in the device to simplify incubation, medium exchange, washing, and fluorescence staining of oocytes. Cumulus expansion can be monitored directly in the device and oocyte maturation can be examined after enzymatic removal of cumulus cells and on‐chip fluorescence staining. The performance of the device is evaluated by studying the influence of three drugs known to block oocyte maturation and/or cumulus expansion.

Facile and scalable tubing-free sample loading for droplet microfluidics

“…We note that, however, each additional TESLI would require 4 more microvalves. Finally, we used FAM as simulated sample for demonstration, but we see different chemical and biological assays to be implemented in our device, including matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) screening assay 42 , cytochrome P450 screening assay 50 , luminescent nanomaterial cell screening assay 51 , other inhibitor and drug screening assays 52 – 54 , and bacteria detection and antimicrobial susceptibility testing assay 45 . With these future improvements, TESLI has the potential to become a powerful sample loading approach in droplet microfluidics for a variety of analytical and bioanalytical applications.…”

Nanotechnology in reproductive medicine: Opportunities for clinical translation

“…Several other approaches such as female sterilization, male condoms, and intrauterine devices (IUDs) have attracted significant attention as potential alternatives to conventional drugs. However, these approaches are faced by challenges such as an increased risk of blood clots or breast cancer associated with the long-term usage of contraceptive pills, the risk of failure of condoms, and the irreversible nature of vasectomies [109,110]. This situation clearly indicates the increasing need for new developments in both male and female contraceptive methods [110].…”

“…However, these approaches are faced by challenges such as an increased risk of blood clots or breast cancer associated with the long-term usage of contraceptive pills, the risk of failure of condoms, and the irreversible nature of vasectomies [109,110]. This situation clearly indicates the increasing need for new developments in both male and female contraceptive methods [110]. The past decades have witnessed remarkable improvements in contraceptive methods owing to nanotechnological advancements.…”

Combinatorial nanodroplet platform for screening antibiotic combinations

“…For instance, delicate microfluidic designs are demonstrated to conduct combinational drug screening in microreactors and hold capability for multiplex reactions and in situ analysis. [49][50][51][52][53][54][55] By incorporating advances in liquid handling techniques, such as inkjet printing, contact printing, and acoustic ejection, drug screening is realized by combining reagents in a step-by-step manner that enables a high degree of freedom for reagent combinations and allows for multistep screening reactions. [56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64] Alternatively, nano/ pico-liter droplet techniques hold great potentials for combinatorial screening since multiple reagents can be readily configured in a droplet and droplet systems typically allow high scalability testing.…”