Department of Micro- and Nanotechnology, Technical University of Denmark, DTU Nanotech, Building 345B, DK-2800, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
Biomed Microdevices. 2012 Apr;14(2):385-99. doi: 10.1007/s10544-011-9615-6.
Utilizing microfluidics is a promising way for increasing the throughput and automation of cell biology research. We present a complete self-contained system for automated cell culture and experiments with real-time optical read-out. The system offers a high degree of user-friendliness, stability due to simple construction principles and compactness for integration with standard instruments. Furthermore, the self-contained system is highly portable enabling transfer between work stations such as laminar flow benches, incubators and microscopes. Accommodation of 24 individual inlet channels enables the system to perform parallel, programmable and multiconditional assays on a single chip. A modular approach provides system versatility and allows many different chips to be used dependent upon application. We validate the system's performance by demonstrating on-chip passive switching and mixing by peristaltically driven flows. Applicability for biological assays is demonstrated by on-chip cell culture including on-chip transfection and temporally programmable gene expression.
利用微流控技术是提高细胞生物学研究通量和自动化程度的一种很有前途的方法。我们提出了一种完整的自动细胞培养和实时光学读出实验的自包含系统。该系统具有高度的用户友好性、简单的构建原理带来的稳定性以及与标准仪器集成的紧凑性。此外，该自包含系统具有高度的便携性，能够在层流台、培养箱和显微镜等工作站之间进行转移。24 个单独的入口通道的容纳能力使得该系统能够在单个芯片上进行并行、可编程和多条件的检测。模块化方法提供了系统的多功能性，并允许根据应用使用许多不同的芯片。我们通过蠕动驱动流实现的芯片上被动切换和混合来验证系统的性能。通过包括芯片上转染和时间可编程基因表达在内的芯片上细胞培养来证明其在生物检测中的适用性。
