Revolutionizing sample preparation: a novel autonomous microfluidic platform for serial dilution

Vloemans, Dries; Pieters, Alexander; Dal Dosso, Francesco; Lammertyn, Jeroen

doi:10.1039/d4lc00195h

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 42 publications

(63 reference statements)

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“…Addressing these limitations, our research introduces a passive device designed to match the processing capabilities of nitrocellulose-based systems while enabling cell analysis, offering a simpler, cost-effective solution for comprehensive blood diagnostics. Research has been conducted on improving the capillary action in biocompatible polymer microfluidic systems [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Certain systems have been maximized in terms of the pumping efficiency without using nitrocellulose capillary pump structures [ 23 , 32 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization of Microfluidics for Point-of-Care Blood Sensing

Tavakolidakhrabadi,

Stark,

Bacher

et al. 2024

Biosensors

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Blood tests are widely used in modern medicine to diagnose certain illnesses and evaluate the overall health of a patient. To enable testing in resource-limited areas, there has been increasing interest in point-of-care (PoC) testing devices. To process blood samples, liquid mixing with active pumps is usually required, making PoC blood testing expensive and bulky. We explored the possibility of processing approximately 2 μL of whole blood for image flow cytometry using capillary structures that allowed test times of a few minutes without active pumps. Capillary pump structures with five different pillar shapes were simulated using Ansys Fluent to determine which resulted in the fastest whole blood uptake. The simulation results showed a strong influence of the capillary pump pillar shape on the chip filling time. Long and thin structures with a high aspect ratio exhibited faster filling times. Microfluidic chips using the simulated pump design with the most efficient blood uptake were fabricated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyethylene oxide (PEO). The chip filling times were tested with 2 μL of both water and whole blood, resulting in uptake times of 24 s for water and 111 s for blood. The simulated blood plasma results deviated from the experimental filling times by about 35% without accounting for any cell-induced effects. By comparing the flow speed induced by different pump pillar geometries, this study offers insights for the design and optimization of passive microfluidic devices for inhomogenous liquids such as whole blood in sensing applications.

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