This study systematically compares the surface polishing performance and finishing results of the following two different electrolytic plasma polishing technologies on stainless steel AISI 316L: (i) plasma electrolytic polishing (PEP) and (ii) plasma electrolytic polishing jet (PEP-Jet). The two techniques are compared against an industrial standard polishing method, electropolishing (EP). For comparable energy density consumption, the samples treated with the PEP-Jet technique showed the highest removal rate, up to three times less than the initial roughness, resulting in the highest surface roughness reduction from Sa = 249 nm to Sa = 81 nm. Microstructure characterization of samples treated using PEP-Jet also showed well-defined crystalline grain boundaries with a distinct appearance of predominantly inter-crystalline structures within individual grains, which is uncommon with EP techniques. The surfaces treated using PEP-Jet exhibited the lowest corrosion rate of $6.79\times {10}^{-5}$ mm/year, and no signs of areal corrosion were detected in the performed corrosion tests in contrast with the other samples and their respective treatments. The comparative analysis revealed that the high ionic current delivered by the electrolyte jet flow in the PEP-Jet process effectively stabilizes the plasma at the contact zone, thereby enhancing the plasma polishing of austenitic stainless steel samples. The efficacy of this method has been demonstrated in terms of reducing energy consumption and enhancing corrosion resistance in comparison with (PEP) and (EP) as state-of-the-art processes in corrosive environments of high-alloyed steel.

Lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) were integrated into microfluidic chips and tested to enhance point-of-care testing (POCT), with the aim of improving sensitivity and expanding the range of CRP detection. The microfluidic approach improves upon traditional methods by precisely controlling fluid speed, thus enhancing sensitivity and accuracy in CRP measurements. The microfluidic approach also enables a one-step detection system, eliminating the need for buffer solution steps and reducing the nitrocellulose (NC) pad area to just the detection test line. This approach minimizes the non-specific binding of conjugated antibodies to unwanted areas of the NC pad, eliminating the need to block those areas, which enhances the sensitivity of detection. The gold nanoparticle method detects CRP in the high-sensitivity range of 1–10 $\mu$g/mL, which is suitable for chronic disease monitoring. To broaden the CRP detection range, including infection levels beyond 10 $\mu$g/mL, fluorescent labels were introduced, extending the measuring range from 1 to 70 $\mu$g/mL. Experimental results demonstrate that integrating microfluidic technology significantly enhances operational efficiency by precisely controlling the flow rate and optimizing the mixing efficiency while reducing fabrication resources by eliminating the need for separate pads, making these methods suitable for resource-limited settings. Microfluidics also provides greater control over fluid dynamics compared to traditional LFIA methods, which contributes to enhanced detection sensitivity even with lower sample volumes and no buffer solution, helping to enhance the usability of POCT. These findings highlight the potential to develop accessible, accurate, and cost-effective diagnostic tools essential for timely medical interventions at the POC.

Malaria remains a significant global health burden, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions with limited resources. Accurate quantification of parasitemia is critical for effective treatment and disease management. While microscopy is the gold standard in diagnostics, it is labour-intensive and highly dependent on operator expertise. Here, we present a capillary-driven image flow cytometer with a cost comparable to microscopy-based diagnostics. This system integrates brightfield and fluorescence imaging into a single image, encoding morphological information in the red channel and fluorescence information in the green channel of a Red Green Blue (RGB) image. The system simplifies malaria diagnosis and quantification into straightforward steps, involving the staining of blood with SYBR Green I before loading it into a microfluidic chip. The chip is then placed under a microscope with both brightfield and fluorescence illumination. Automated image acquisition and processing enable the generation of diagnostic results without user intervention. We evaluated the robustness and repeatability of the system against a commercial flow cytometer using samples with parasitemia levels of 1.45% and 5.98%. The platform successfully diagnoses malaria and quantifies parasitemia with a relative error of less than 10% compared to standard flow cytometry on the cultured Plasmodium falciparum. The platform additionally provides information about the area fraction of red blood cell (RBC) occupied by the parasite, which enables insight into the stage of the parasites or the number of parasites per cell. While the current proof-of-concept validation is limited to cultured samples at moderate-to-high parasitemia levels, the results highlight the feasibility of such integrated systems. The future work will prioritise the replacement of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chips with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) chips and integration of on-board staining, as well as validation of the platform on patient-derived clinical samples over clinically relevant parasitemia levels in field settings.