Themed collection Microfluidic systems with societal impact

Guest Editors Michael Roper, Christopher Easley and Fiona Regan, alongside Deputy Editor Maria Southall, introduce the Analytical Methods themed collection on microfluidic systems.

Christopher Easley, Fiona Regan, Michael Roper and R. Scott Martin look at the achievements of Susan Lunte and James Landers.

Diagnosis and monitoring of disorders of coagulation and disturbances in haemostasis has been around for many years. The development of POC technologies in this area has rapidly advanced and continues to improve upon the monitoring and diagnosis of these disorders. This review highlights recent and ongoing advances in microfluidics with application to the areas of haemostasis and coagulation biology.

This review highlights the developments, accomplishments and challenges of integrated μPADs, including sample pretreatment, signal transduction/amplification and results output.

Recent advances in high-throughput biomarker analysis based on an organ-on-a-chip and its applications in drug development.

Flow-gated capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a hybrid of conventional and microchip CE since it employs a fused silica capillary as the separation channel while taking advantage of the well-controlled flow-gated injection, which adds versatility in terms of separation efficiency, analytical throughput, and ease of coupling with sample pretreatment procedures.

Toner-based microfluidic devices have emerged as promising platforms for bioanalytical applications.

There is currently a gap in the use of centrifugal microfluidics in the field of environmental sensing.

The performance of low-cost, microgroove silicon (Si)-based internal reflection elements (μ-groove IREs) for infrared chemical imaging of microfluidic devices is described.

A network augmentation approach that adds synthetic connections to microvascular networks to induce biomimetic microfluidic flow.

Colorimetric detection, while a user-friendly and easily implemented method of analysis on low-cost analytical devices, often suffers from subjectivity by the device user.

Paper fluidics has recently offered an approach to precisely guide liquid flow in analytical devices with a low-cost regime.

Droplet microfluidic devices with integrated operations including droplet generation, electrical injection, and magnetic splitting were manufactured in thermoplastics.

ePADs represent an innovative and versatile platform for fluid handling and analysis.

Method for photolithographic structuring of foldable hydrophobic barriers in paper for the creation of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs).

Reversibly sealed all-PDMS device with CF working electrode for continuous on-line analysis of microdialysis samples.

Low adsorption filter membrane materials facilitate effective zonal electrophoresis and electrokinetic gating in microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs).

Multichannel droplet-based microfluidic sample chopper (μChopper) allows continuous calibration, nanoliter sampling, and protein quantification in human serum.

Here we show that separate modules fabricated using 3D printing technology can be easily assembled to quantitate the amount of nitric oxide released from endothelial cells following ATP stimulation.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system affecting over 2.5 million people worldwide.

We present a low-cost integrated nanophotonic lab-on-a-chip platform suitable for point-of-care (POC) biomarker analysis.

Aerosolized deposition of a polymer solution to a substrate allows for rapid, low-cost fabrication of 3D microfluidic devices for bioassays.

Pre-concentration and clean-up are essential sample preparation steps in environmental, forensics and bio-analytical assays.

Although subcutaneously implanted continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices have been shown to support diabetes self-management, their uptake remains low due to high costs and poor accuracy and precision arising from their invasiveness.

Isolation of pure populations of mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow aspirate is a critical need in regenerative medicine such as orthopedic and cartilage reconstruction with important clinical and therapeutic implications.

A polystyrene–PDMS device utilizing an embedded fused silica capillary and electrochemical detection was used for improved efficiency separations of catecholamines.

Ultrasonic spectroscopy is a viable complement to current techniques used to analyze insulin stability due to its simplicity, lack of sample preparation, and non-destructive properties.

A 3D-printed microfluidic array detects 2 proteins in 4 samples at very low cost with downloadable plans