Microbioreactor system, with inset the microbioreactor element, and an example cultivation growth... more Microbioreactor system, with inset the microbioreactor element, and an example cultivation growth profile showing dissolved oxygen, pH and dry cell weight.
A reusable low cost microfluidic cell culture array device (MCCAD) integrated with a six output c... more A reusable low cost microfluidic cell culture array device (MCCAD) integrated with a six output concentration gradient generator (cGG) and 4 Â 6 arrays of microchamber elements, addressed by a series of row and columnar pneumatically actuated normally closed (NC) microvalves was fabricated for cell-based screening of chemotherapeutic compounds. The poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) device consists of three layers: fluidic, control and membrane which are held by surface contact and made leak-proof by clamping pressure. The NC valves are actuated by a thick PDMS membrane that was created by a novel method based on the self-assembly of PDMS pre-polymer molecules over a denser calcium chloride solution. The membrane actuated the valves reliably and particulates such as alumina particles (3 mm) and MCF-7 cells (20-24 mm) (2 Â 10 5 cells/mL) were flowed through the valves without causing blockage or leakage and consequently avoiding contamination of the different cell culture elements. The MCCAD was cast and assembled in a standard laboratory without specialist equipment and demonstrated for performing quantitative cell-based cytotoxicity assays of pyocyanine on human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells and assessed for toxic effect on human hepatocyte carcinoma (HepG2) cells as an indicator for liver injury. Then, the MCCAD was demonstrated for sequential drug combinatorial screening involving gradient generation of paclitaxel doses followed by treatment with aspirin doses on the viability of MCF-7 cells. The interaction between paclitaxel and aspirin was evaluated by using the Bliss independence predictive model and results showed reasonable agreement with the model. A robust, portable, easily fabricated and low cost device is therefore shown to conveniently carry out culturing of multiple cell lines for high throughput screening of anti-cancer compounds using minimal reagents.
The use of microfluidic bioreactor platforms for cell culturing holds considerable promise for a ... more The use of microfluidic bioreactor platforms for cell culturing holds considerable promise for a range of fields
which include drug discovery, tissue engineering, bioprocessing optimisation and cell based screening studies. Microfluidic
bioreactor systems have length scales that are well matched to the physical dimensions of most cells and microorganisms.
In view of this, microfluidic bioreactors have attractive features which make them ideal to study the behaviour of
cells and their internal organisation in their native microenvironment. Due to their small footprint microbioreactor platforms offer a number of advantages over conventional macroscale systems including improved biological function, higher quality cell-based data, reduced volume of reagents, ease of integration and lower cost. This review highlights the basic
concepts, designs and operational requirements of microbioreactors for cell based studies. An illustrative outline of different applications of microbioreactors and some indication of new trends and progress in recent years are provided. Specific
examples of applications of microbioreactors are drawn for cytotoxicity assays, tissue engineering, stem cells, microbial
fermentations, single cell analysis and in vitro fertilisation.
The Lab-on-a-chip systems regarding the terrorist activity for the detection of warfare agents an... more The Lab-on-a-chip systems regarding the terrorist activity for the detection of warfare agents and explosives are discussed. These systems have the potential to provide reliable forensic information in a faster, simpler and cheaper manner. These systems integrate all of the ...
Microbioreactor system, with inset the microbioreactor element, and an example cultivation growth... more Microbioreactor system, with inset the microbioreactor element, and an example cultivation growth profile showing dissolved oxygen, pH and dry cell weight.
A reusable low cost microfluidic cell culture array device (MCCAD) integrated with a six output c... more A reusable low cost microfluidic cell culture array device (MCCAD) integrated with a six output concentration gradient generator (cGG) and 4 Â 6 arrays of microchamber elements, addressed by a series of row and columnar pneumatically actuated normally closed (NC) microvalves was fabricated for cell-based screening of chemotherapeutic compounds. The poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) device consists of three layers: fluidic, control and membrane which are held by surface contact and made leak-proof by clamping pressure. The NC valves are actuated by a thick PDMS membrane that was created by a novel method based on the self-assembly of PDMS pre-polymer molecules over a denser calcium chloride solution. The membrane actuated the valves reliably and particulates such as alumina particles (3 mm) and MCF-7 cells (20-24 mm) (2 Â 10 5 cells/mL) were flowed through the valves without causing blockage or leakage and consequently avoiding contamination of the different cell culture elements. The MCCAD was cast and assembled in a standard laboratory without specialist equipment and demonstrated for performing quantitative cell-based cytotoxicity assays of pyocyanine on human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells and assessed for toxic effect on human hepatocyte carcinoma (HepG2) cells as an indicator for liver injury. Then, the MCCAD was demonstrated for sequential drug combinatorial screening involving gradient generation of paclitaxel doses followed by treatment with aspirin doses on the viability of MCF-7 cells. The interaction between paclitaxel and aspirin was evaluated by using the Bliss independence predictive model and results showed reasonable agreement with the model. A robust, portable, easily fabricated and low cost device is therefore shown to conveniently carry out culturing of multiple cell lines for high throughput screening of anti-cancer compounds using minimal reagents.
The use of microfluidic bioreactor platforms for cell culturing holds considerable promise for a ... more The use of microfluidic bioreactor platforms for cell culturing holds considerable promise for a range of fields
which include drug discovery, tissue engineering, bioprocessing optimisation and cell based screening studies. Microfluidic
bioreactor systems have length scales that are well matched to the physical dimensions of most cells and microorganisms.
In view of this, microfluidic bioreactors have attractive features which make them ideal to study the behaviour of
cells and their internal organisation in their native microenvironment. Due to their small footprint microbioreactor platforms offer a number of advantages over conventional macroscale systems including improved biological function, higher quality cell-based data, reduced volume of reagents, ease of integration and lower cost. This review highlights the basic
concepts, designs and operational requirements of microbioreactors for cell based studies. An illustrative outline of different applications of microbioreactors and some indication of new trends and progress in recent years are provided. Specific
examples of applications of microbioreactors are drawn for cytotoxicity assays, tissue engineering, stem cells, microbial
fermentations, single cell analysis and in vitro fertilisation.
The Lab-on-a-chip systems regarding the terrorist activity for the detection of warfare agents an... more The Lab-on-a-chip systems regarding the terrorist activity for the detection of warfare agents and explosives are discussed. These systems have the potential to provide reliable forensic information in a faster, simpler and cheaper manner. These systems integrate all of the ...
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which include drug discovery, tissue engineering, bioprocessing optimisation and cell based screening studies. Microfluidic
bioreactor systems have length scales that are well matched to the physical dimensions of most cells and microorganisms.
In view of this, microfluidic bioreactors have attractive features which make them ideal to study the behaviour of
cells and their internal organisation in their native microenvironment. Due to their small footprint microbioreactor platforms offer a number of advantages over conventional macroscale systems including improved biological function, higher quality cell-based data, reduced volume of reagents, ease of integration and lower cost. This review highlights the basic
concepts, designs and operational requirements of microbioreactors for cell based studies. An illustrative outline of different applications of microbioreactors and some indication of new trends and progress in recent years are provided. Specific
examples of applications of microbioreactors are drawn for cytotoxicity assays, tissue engineering, stem cells, microbial
fermentations, single cell analysis and in vitro fertilisation.
which include drug discovery, tissue engineering, bioprocessing optimisation and cell based screening studies. Microfluidic
bioreactor systems have length scales that are well matched to the physical dimensions of most cells and microorganisms.
In view of this, microfluidic bioreactors have attractive features which make them ideal to study the behaviour of
cells and their internal organisation in their native microenvironment. Due to their small footprint microbioreactor platforms offer a number of advantages over conventional macroscale systems including improved biological function, higher quality cell-based data, reduced volume of reagents, ease of integration and lower cost. This review highlights the basic
concepts, designs and operational requirements of microbioreactors for cell based studies. An illustrative outline of different applications of microbioreactors and some indication of new trends and progress in recent years are provided. Specific
examples of applications of microbioreactors are drawn for cytotoxicity assays, tissue engineering, stem cells, microbial
fermentations, single cell analysis and in vitro fertilisation.