0000000000088166
AUTHOR
Nicola M. Howarth
Engineered Membranes for Residual Cell Trapping on Microfluidic Blood Plasma Separation Systems: A Comparison between Porous and Nanofibrous Membranes
Blood-based clinical diagnostics require challenging limit-of-detection for low abundance, circulating molecules in plasma. Micro-scale blood plasma separation (BPS) has achieved remarkable results in terms of plasma yield or purity, but rarely achieving both at the same time. Here, we proposed the first use of electrospun polylactic-acid (PLA) membranes as filters to remove residual cell population from continuous hydrodynamic-BPS devices. The membranes hydrophilicity was improved by adopting a wet chemistry approach via surface aminolysis as demonstrated through Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Water Contact Angle analysis. The usability of PLA-membranes was assessed through de…
Engineered membranes for residual cell trapping on microfluidic blood plasma separation systems. A comparison between porous and nanofibrous membranes
AbstractBlood-based clinical diagnostics require challenging limit-of-detection for low abundance, circulating molecules in plasma. Micro-scale blood plasma separation (BPS) has achieved remarkable results in terms of plasma yield or purity, but rarely achieving both at the same time. Here, we proposed the first use of electrospun polylactic-acid (PLA) membranes as filters to remove residual cell population from continuous hydrodynamic-BPS devices. The membranes hydrophilicity was improved by adopting a wet chemistry approach via surface aminolysis as demonstrated through Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Water Contact Angle analysis. The usability of PLA-membranes was assessed th…
Polylactic is a Sustainable, Low Absorption, Low Autofluorescence Alternative to Other Plastics for Microfluidic and Organ-on-Chip Applications
Organ-on-chip (OOC) devices are miniaturized devices replacing animal models in drug discovery and toxicology studies. The majority of OOC devices are made from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), an elastomer widely used in microfluidic prototyping, but posing a number of challenges to experimentalists, including leaching of uncured oligomers and uncontrolled absorption of small compounds. Here we assess the suitability of polylactic acid (PLA) as a replacement material to PDMS for microfluidic cell culture and OOC applications. We changed the wettability of PLA substrates and demonstrated the functionalization method to be stable over a time period of at least 9 months. We successfully cultured …
Laser Ablation of Poly(lactic acid) Sheets for the Rapid Prototyping of Sustainable, Single-Use, Disposable Medical Microcomponents
The employment of single-use, disposable medical equipment has increased the amount of medical waste produced and the advent of point-of-care diagnostics in lab-on-chip format is likely to add further volume. Current materials used for the manufacture of these devices are derived from petroleum sources and are, therefore, unsustainable. In addition, disposal of these plastics necessitates combustion to reduce infection risk, which has, depending on material composition, an undesirable environmental impact. To address these issues, we have developed a general approach for the rapid prototyping of single-use point-of-care cartridges prepared from poly(lactic acid), a sustainable material whic…