Lateral focusing is achieved by squeezing the middle sample stream from both sides at the intersection, while longitudinal adaptive focusing is achieved through V-shaped convergence and height difference.
4 December 2023 in Bioengineering & Translational Medicine
Cisplatin‐containing combination chemotherapy has been used as the standard treatment for bladder cancer patients at advanced stage. However, nearly 50% of patients are nonresponders. To guide the selection of more effective chemotherapeutic agents, a bladder cancer spheroids microfluidic drug sensitivity analysis system was established in this study. Bladder cancer spheroids were established and successfully cultured in a customized microfluidic device to assess their response to different chemotherapeutic agents. The in vitro drug sensitivity results were also compared to patient‐derived xenograft (PDX) models and clinical responses of patients. As a result, bladder cancer spheroids faithfully recapitulate the histopathological and genetic features of their corresponding parental tumors. Furthermore, the in vitro drug sensitivity outcomes of spheroids (n = 8) demonstrated a high level of correlation with the PDX (n = 2) and clinical response in patients (n = 2). Our study highlights the potential of combining bladder cancer spheroids and microfluidic devices as an efficient and accurate platform for personalized selection of chemotherapeutic agents.
Flexible graphene field-effect transistors (FGr-FETs) possess ultra-high detection sensitivity, excellent mechanical flexibility, and extensive interface signal transduction mechanisms, driving the innovative development of flexible electronics. However, the accurate extraction of signals in complex physiological scenarios remains a key factor limiting the advancement of FGr-FET. This review systematically examines the mechanisms underlying the sensing and transduction of electrophysiological, mechanical, and biochemical signals in FGr-FET. We summarize strategies for enhancing FGr-FET sensing performance, including material modification, structural optimization, and the amplification of optical and magnetic signals. This paper highlights the latest advances in multimodal sensing and precision medicine applications and analyzes key challenges related to Debye screening, device reliability, inter-device variability, long-term operational stability, and clinical translation. Finally, we discuss the potential application of artificial intelligence algorithms in the precise extraction of physiological signals from FGr-FETs. These reviews provide a theoretical foundation for the development of next-generation precision medicine platforms.
Inertial microfluidics is promising for the high throughput, label-free continuous separation of multicomponent microparticles. However, conventional single spiral microchannels struggle to separate three or more particle types, while traditional cascaded systems relying on sheath fluids or multiple pumps suffer from increased operational complexity. To address this, we propose a cascaded dual spiral microfluidic chip based on passive flow resistance matching. Driven by a single syringe pump without sheath flow, it achieves continuous sorting of three particle types. An adaptive flow resistance network is incorporated: the first stage channel maintains high velocity to preferentially extract large particles via strong inertial lift forces. The fluid then enters the second stage through a predetermined geometric resistance for automatic deceleration. Experiments demonstrate that at 1.6 mL/min, the system achieves continuous separation of a 1:10:10 mixture of 15, 10, and 5 µm microparticles. The 15 µm target recovery rate reaches 92%, while the collection purities for 10 µm and 5 µm particles exceed 98% and 99%, respectively. This purely passive fluidic architecture simplifies cascaded sorting, providing a robust engineering solution for complex multicomponent sample preprocessing.