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A lab-on-a-chip is a class of device that integrates and automates multiple laboratory techniques into a system that fits on a chip up to a maximum of a few square centimetres in size. By manipulating reagents on the microscale effects such as rapid heating and mixing can be exploited. It also allows waste and exposure to dangerous chemicals to be minimized.
Yushen Zhang and colleagues report an open source, interactive software platform for the efficient and convenient design of 3D printable microfluidic devices. The approach incorporates a design-for-manufacturing function, facilitating device fabrication using commercial consumer-grade printers.
Biosensing tools to detect multiple analytes in a high-throughput manner are still hindered by many limitations. Here, the authors present a label-free optofluidic platform integrating digital holography and microfluidics for analyte detection, allowing for the fingerprinting of heterogenous biological samples.
Topobiologically complex mini-colons—which enable the faithful in vitro recapitulation of colorectal cancer tumorigenesis and its environmental determinants—offer the possibility to reduce animal use in a wide range of experimental applications.
Pharmaceutical companies continue to advocate for the use of in vitro models towards the reduction of animal use in drug discovery and development while acknowledging that further advancements are needed to heighten the models’ current state of readiness.
The physical phenotypes of malignant cells in tissue biopsies can be rapidly characterized at high throughput via deformability cytometry after singularizing the cells into a suspension by using a tissue grinder.
We developed a 3D human neuroimmune axis model to study the interplay of brain innate immune cells and peripheral adaptive immune cells in Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease pathology induced a marked increase in CD8+ T cell infiltration, exacerbating neurodegeneration. The CXCL10–CXCR3 pathway has a key role in mediating this process.
Biomarkers in breath can be related to certain diseases, which makes breath-based analysis a powerful diagnostic tool. Here we highlight milestones and remaining challenges for the broad clinical implementation of wearables for breath analysis.
Pooled testing for the diagnosis of COVID-19 via isothermal nucleic acid amplification and detection can be automated by using electromagnetically actuated swarms of millimetric magnets to handle droplets of magnetized samples on a microfluidic chip.