Sooriyaarachchi Dilshan, Maharubin Shahrima, Tan George Z
Department of Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
Biomed Eng Comput Biol. 2020 Jul 13;11:1179597220941431. doi: 10.1177/1179597220941431. eCollection 2020.
The integration of nanomaterials in microfluidic devices has emerged as a new research paradigm. Microfluidic devices composed of ZnO nanowires have been developed for the collection of urine extracellular vesicles (EVs) at high efficiency and in situ extraction of various microRNAs (miRNAs). The devices can be used for diagnosing various diseases, including kidney diseases and cancers. A major research need for developing micro total analysis systems is to enhance extraction efficiency. This article presents a novel fabrication method for a herringbone-patterned microfluidic device anchored with ZnO nanowire arrays. The substrates with herringbone patterns were created by maskless photolithography. The ZnO nanowire arrays were grown on the substrates by chemical bathing. The patterned design was to introduce turbulent flows as opposed to laminar flow in traditional devices to increase the mixing and contact of the urine sample with ZnO nanowires. The device showed reduced flow rates compared with conventional planar microfluidic channels and successfully extracted urine EV-encapsulated miRNAs.
纳米材料与微流控装置的整合已成为一种新的研究范式。由氧化锌纳米线组成的微流控装置已被开发出来，用于高效收集尿液细胞外囊泡（EVs）并原位提取各种微小RNA（miRNAs）。这些装置可用于诊断包括肾脏疾病和癌症在内的各种疾病。开发微型全分析系统的一个主要研究需求是提高提取效率。本文提出了一种用于锚定氧化锌纳米线阵列的人字形微流控装置的新颖制造方法。具有人字形图案的基板通过无掩膜光刻法制作。氧化锌纳米线阵列通过化学浴在基板上生长。这种图案化设计旨在引入湍流，与传统装置中的层流相反，以增加尿液样本与氧化锌纳米线的混合和接触。与传统的平面微流控通道相比，该装置显示出流速降低，并成功提取了尿液中封装在细胞外囊泡中的miRNAs。
