• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.51 no.6
• /
• pp.760-765
• /
• 2013

Lysozyme crystallization was performed by using flow-focusing chip in droplet-based microfluidic system. Water-in-oil droplets were formed in the system and collected on petri-dish and cross type mold. Liquid-liquid reaction of lysozyme and sodium chloride occurred in the droplet and crystals were observed through microscope. Solution pH was varied as 4.8 and 7.2. Crystals of polyhedron and plate-like shape were obtained at pH 4.8, while needle structure crystals formed at pH 7.2. Lysozyme in single droplet for two pHs were crystallized with constant or decreased droplet size. However, crystals at pH 4.8 were only obtained in the droplet of which size was increased by the interaction between droplets. Droplet volume did not change at pH 7.2 and crystals formed in both droplets.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.525-530
• /
• 2011

Emotion is composed of various feelings such as pleasure, sorrow, comfortability, and so on. The complicated process of the measurement has long been recognized as a major hindrance for the studies of emotion. Previously, individuals' emotion has mainly been measured by means of self-report, interview, EEG (electroencephalogram), ECG (electrocardiogram), EOG (electroculography), and body temperature. With thanks to nano/micro technologies, the possibility in the development of emotion-on-a-chip (EOC) has begun to be proposed. EOC will make it possible to analyze one's psychological status by taking a drop of blood. Discovery of emotional biomarkers in body fluids, understanding of the correlation between those biomarkers and the results from brain science are prerequisites to validate the EOC technology. In this paper, paper microfluidics are introduced as a good candidate for the EOC. As paper microfluidics is cost-effective and easy to use it is expected to be a useful device for the emotion measurement. We present the design and fabrication process for the simple paper-based microfluidic device and discuss the possible application in the field of measuring the human emotion.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.475-479
• /
• 2012

We present a novel polymer fabrication process involving direct UV patterning of a hyperbranched polymer, AEO3000. Compared to PDMS, which is the most widely used polymer in bioMEMS devices, the present polymer has advantages with regard to electrode integration and fast fabrication. We designed a four-chip microelectrofluidic bench having three electrical pads and two fluidic I/O ports. We integrated a microfluidic mixer and a cell separator on the bench to characterize the interconnection performance and sample manipulation. Electrical and fluidic characterization of the microfluidic bench was performed. The measured electrical contact resistance was $0.75{\pm}0.44{\Omega}$, which is small enough for electrical applications, and the pressure drop was 8.3 kPa, which was 39.3% of the value in the tubing method. By performing yeast mixing and a separation test in the integrated module on the bench, we successfully showed that the interconnected chips could be used for bio-sample manipulation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.57 no.5
• /
• pp.706-713
• /
• 2019

In this study, basic research was conducted to provide guidelines for selecting printers and materials suitable for each application case by analyzing 3D printing method and surface characteristics of materials suitable for microfluidic system. We have studied the surface characteristics according to the materials for the two typical printing methods: The most commonly used method of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printing and the relatively high resolution method of Stereolithography (SLA) printing. The FDM prints exhibited hydrophilic properties before post - treatment, regardless of the material, but showed hydrophobic properties after post - treatment with acetone vapor. It was confirmed by the observation of surface roughness using SEM that the change of the contact angle was due to the removal of the surface structure by post-treatment. SLA prints exhibited hydrophilic properties compared to FDM prints, but they were experimentally confirmed to be capable of surface modification using hydrophobic coatings. It was confirmed that it is impossible to make a transparent specimen in the FDM method. However, sufficient transparency is secured in the case of the SLA method. It is also confirmed that the electroporation chip of the digital electroporation system based on the droplet contact charging phenomenon was fabricated by the SLA method and the direct application to the microfluidic system by demonstrating the electroporation successfully.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.59 no.1
• /
• pp.77-82
• /
• 2021

As malaria remains a major health problem worldwide, various diagnostic tests have been developed, including microscopy-based and rapid diagnostic tests. LabChip real-time PCR (LRP) is a small and portable device used to diagnose malaria using lab-on-a-chip technology. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of LRP for detecting malaria parasites. Two hundred thirteen patients and 150 healthy individuals were enrolled from May 2009 to October 2015. A diagnostic detectability of LRP for malaria parasites was compared to that of conventional RT-PCR. Sensitivity of LRP for Plasmodium vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, and P. ovale was 95.5%, 96.0%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. Specificity of LRP for P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, and P. ovale was 100%, 99.3%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. Cohen's Kappa coefficients between LRP and CFX96 for detecting P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, and P. ovale were 0.96, 0.98, 1.00, and 1.00, respectively. Significant difference was not observed between the results of LRP and conventional RT-PCR and microscopic examination. A time required to amplify DNAs using LRP and conventional RT-PCR was 27 min and 86 min, respectively. LRP amplified DNAs 2 times more fast than conventional RT-PCR due to the faster heat transfer. Therefore, LRP could be employed as a useful tool for detecting malaria parasites in clinical laboratories.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 2004.07c
• /
• pp.2102-2104
• /
• 2004

In this study, sheathless electrospray from PDMS/glass microchips with conducting metal emitter tip is described. A chip-based capillary electrophoresis/mass spectrometry (CE/MS) system has advantages of the CE separation and on-line electrospray detection of peptide solution. We have fabricated a new electrospray ionization(ESI) device composed of the metal emitter tip and CE separation channel monolithically in a glass microchip. The separation channel and metal emitter tip are fabricated using a glass wet etching and gold electro plating process, respectively. The fabricated micro electrospray chip was tested by spraying peptide sample for mass spectrometric analysis. Singlely-charged peak and doublely-charged peak of peptide were detected and further MS/MS fragmentation was performed in each peak. Direct comparisons with conventional glass or fused silica emitters showed very similar performance with respect to signal strength and stability.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.378-382
• /
• 2004

A micromachined fluidic structure for the introduction of liquid samples into a chip-based sensor array composed of individually addressable polymeric microbeads has been developed. The structure consists of a separately attached cover glass, a single silicon chip having micromachined channels and microbead storage cavities, and a glass carver. In our sensor array, transduction occurs via colorimetric and fluorescence changes to receptors and indicator molecules that are covalently attached to termination sites on the polymeric microbeads. Data streams are acquired for each of the individual microbeads using a CCD. One of the key parts of the structure is a passive fluid introduction system driven only by capillary force. The velocity of penetration of a horizontal capillary for the device having a rectangular cross section has been derived, and it is quite similar to the Washburn Equation calculated for a pipe with a circular cross section having uniform radius. The test results show that this system is useful in a ${\mu}$-TAS and biomedical applications.

• 한국가시화정보학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2002.04a
• /
• pp.79-84
• /
• 2002

Most microfluidic devices such as heat sinks for cooling micro-chips, DNA chip, Lab-On-Chip, and micro pumps etc. have microchannels of various size. Therefore, the design of practical microfluidics demands detail information on flow structure inside the microchannels. However, detail velocity field measurements are rare and difficult to carry out. In addition, as the microfluidics expands, accurate understanding of microscale transport phenomena becomes very important. In this research, micro-PIV system was employed to measure the velocity fields of flow inside a micro-channel. We carried out PIV measurements for several microchannels with varying channels width, inlet and outlet shape, filters, CCD camera and ICCD camera, etc. For effective composition of micro-PIV system, first of all, it is essential to understand optics related with micro-imaging of particles and the particle dynamics encountered in micro-scale channel flows. In addition, it is necessary to find the optimal condition for given experimental environment and? micro-scale flow to be investigated. The problems encountered in measuring velocity field of micro-channel flows are discussed in this paper.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.9 no.10
• /
• pp.237-242
• /
• 2018

A micromixer is a component of a lab-on-a-chip or microfluidic device that mixes two or more chemicals together(convergence). The purpose of this study is to assess the performance of passive micromixer of various shapes. Six shapes of micromixers were compared and three dimensional modeling was carried out to have the same hydraulic diameter. The commercial code, ANSYS Fluent, was used to simulate the internal mixing flow. A numerical analysis method is described in detail in this paper. The performance of the micromixer was compared with the mixing index and pressure drop. Consequently, the CDM-8T shape showed reasonable mixing performance and relatively low pressure drop.

• BioChip Journal
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.326-331
• /
• 2018

Contamination by pesticides is an everincreasing problem associated with fields of environmental management and healthcare. Accordingly, appropriate treatments are in demand. Pesticide detection methods have been researched extensively, aimed at making the detection convenient, fast, cost-effective, and easy to use. Among the various detecting strategies, paper-based assay is potent for real-time pesticide sensing due to its unique advantages including disposability, light weight, and low cost. In this study, a paper-based sensor for chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate pesticide, has been developed by layering three sheets of patterned plates. In colorimetric quantification of pesticides, the blue color produced by the interaction between acetylcholinesterase and indoxyl acetate is inhibited by the pesticide molecules present in the sample solutions. With the optimized paper-based sensor, the pesticide is sensitively detected (limit of detection =8.60 ppm) within 5min. Furthermore, the shelf life of the device is enhanced to 14 days after from the fabrication, by treating trehalose solution onto the deposited reagents. We expect the paper-based device to be utilized as a first-screening analytic device for water quality monitoring and food analysis.