Applications and Experiences of Quality Control

The rich palette of topics set out in this book provides a sufficiently broad overview of the developments in the field of quality control. By providing detailed information on various aspects of quality control, this book can serve as a basis for starting interdisciplinary cooperation, which has increasingly become an integral part of scientific and applied research

Smart Sensors for Healthcare and Medical Applications

This book focuses on new sensing technologies, measurement techniques, and their applications in medicine and healthcare. Specifically, the book briefly describes the potential of smart sensors in the aforementioned applications, collecting 24 articles selected and published in the Special Issue “Smart Sensors for Healthcare and Medical Applications”. We proposed this topic, being aware of the pivotal role that smart sensors can play in the improvement of healthcare services in both acute and chronic conditions as well as in prevention for a healthy life and active aging. The articles selected in this book cover a variety of topics related to the design, validation, and application of smart sensors to healthcare

Selected Papers from the 1st International Electronic Conference on Biosensors (IECB 2020)

The scope of this Special Issue is to collect some of the contributions to the First International Electronic Conference on Biosensors, which was held to bring together well-known experts currently working in biosensor technologies from around the globe, and to provide an online forum for presenting and discussing new results. The world of biosensors is definitively a versatile and universally applicable one, as demonstrated by the wide range of topics which were addressed at the Conference, such as: bioengineered and biomimetic receptors; microfluidics for biosensing; biosensors for emergency situations; nanotechnologies and nanomaterials for biosensors; intra- and extracellular biosensing; and advanced applications in clinical, environmental, food safety, and cultural heritage fields

Optical Methods in Sensing and Imaging for Medical and Biological Applications

The recent advances in optical sources and detectors have opened up new opportunities for sensing and imaging techniques which can be successfully used in biomedical and healthcare applications. This book, entitled ‘Optical Methods in Sensing and Imaging for Medical and Biological Applications’, focuses on various aspects of the research and development related to these areas. The book will be a valuable source of information presenting the recent advances in optical methods and novel techniques, as well as their applications in the fields of biomedicine and healthcare, to anyone interested in this subject

Modular Instrumentation for Controlling and Monitoring In-Vitro Cultivation Environment and Image-based Functionality Measurements of Human Stem Cells

Artificial animal cell culture was successfully developed by Ross Harrison in 1907. But it was not until the 1940’s and 1950’s that several developments occurred, which expedited the cell culturing in-vitro (C-Vitro) to be a consistent and reproducible technique to study isolated living-cells in a controlled environment. Currently, CVitro is one of the major tools in cellular and molecular biology both in the academia and industry. They are extensively utilised to study the cellular physiology/biochemistry, to screen drugs/therapeutic compounds, to understand the effects of drugs/toxic compounds and also to identify the pathways of carcinogenesis/mutagenesis. It is also used in large scale manufacturing of vaccines and therapeutic proteins. In any experimental setup, it is important that the C-Vitro model should represent the physiological phenomena of interest with reasonable accuracy so that all experimental results are statistically consistent and reproducible. In this direction, sensors and measurement systems play important roles in in-situ detection and/or control/manipulation of cells/tissues/environment. This thesis aimed to develop new technology for tailored cell culturing and integrated measurements. Firstly, design and assembly of a portable Invert-upright microscope interchangeable modular cell culturing platform (iuCMP) was envisioned. In contrast to conventional methods, micro-scaled systems mimic the cells' natural microenvironment more precisely, facilitating accurate and tractable models. The iuCMP integrates modular measurement schemes with a mini culture chamber using biocompatible cell-friendly materials, automated environment-control (temperature and gas concentrations), oxygen sensing and simultaneous functional measurements (electrophysiological and image-based). Time lapse microscopy is very useful in cell biology, but integration of advanced >i>in-vitro/device based biological systems (e.g. lab/organ/body-on-chips, or mini-bioreactors/microfluidic systems) into conventional microscopes can be challenging in several circumstances due to multiple reasons. But in iuCMP the main advantage is, the microscope can be switched either as an inverted or as an upright system and therefore can accommodate virtually any in-vitro device. It can capture images from regions that are otherwise inaccessible by conventional microscopes, for example, cells cultured on physical or biochemical sensor systems. The modular design also allows accommodating more sensor or measurement systems quite freely. We have demonstrated the system for video-based beating analysis of cardiomyocytes, cell orientation analysis on nanocellulose, and simultaneous long-term in-situ microscopy with oxygen and temperature sensing in hypoxia. In an example application, the system was utilised for long-term temperature stressing and simultaneous mechanobiological analysis of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs). For this the iuCMP together with a temperature sensor plate (TSP) and a novel non-invasive beating analysis software (CMaN—cardiomyocyte function analysis tool, scripted as a subpart of this thesis), was applied for automated temperature response studies in hiPSC-CM cultures. In-situ temperature sensing is usually challenging with bulky external sensors, but TSPs solved this issue. In the temperature response study, we showed that the relationship between hiPSC-CM beating frequency and temperature is non-linear and measured the Q10 temperature coefficients. Moreover, we observed the hiPSC-CM contractile networking, including propagation of the action potential signal between dissociated clusters and their non-invasive measurements. It was the first case where these events were reported in hiPSC-CM clusters and their noninvasive measurements by image processing. The software CMaN comes with a user-friendly interface and, is equipped with features for batch processing, movement centre detection and cluster finding. It can extract six different signals of the contractile motion of cardiomyocytes (clusters or single cells) per processing. This ensures a minimum of one useful beating signal even in the cases of complex beating videos. On the processing end, compared to similar tools, CMaN is faster, more sensitive, and computationally less expensive and allows ROI based processing. In the case of healthy cells, the waveform of the signal from the CMaN resembles an ECG signal with positive and negative segments, allowing the computation of contraction and relaxation features separately. In addition to iuCMP, a Modular optical pH measurement system (MO-pH) for 24/7 non-contact cell culture measurements was also developed. The MO-pH incorporates modular sterilisable optical parts and is used in phenol-red medium cell cultures. The modular assembly of MO-pH cassettes is unique and reusable. Measurements are carried out in a closed flow system without wasting any culture medium and requires no special manual attention or recalibrations during culture. Furthermore, a new absorption correction model was put forward that minimised errors caused e.g. by biolayers in spectrometric pH measurement, which improved the pH measurement accuracy. MO-pH has been applied in long-term human adipose stem cells (hASC) expansion cultures in CO2 dependent and independent media. Additionally, the MO-pH was also utilised to comprehend the behaviour of pH, temperature and humidity in water jacked incubators as well as to record the pH response as a function of temperature in the presence and absence of CO2 in the context of stem cell cultures. The resulting plots clearly showed the interplay between measured parameters indicating a few stress sources present all through the culture. Additionally, it provided an overall picture of behaviour of critical control parameters in an incubator and pointed out the need for bioprocess systems with automatic process monitoring and smart control for maximum yield, optimal growth and maintenance of the cells. Besides, we also integrated MO-pH into flasks with reclosable lids (RL-F) and tested its applicability in stem cell cultures. A standalone system around an RL-F flask was built by combining the cell culture, medium perfusion and optical measurements. The developed RL-F system has been successfully tested in ASC-differentiation cultures. Finally, a few trial experiments for image-based pH estimation aimed for iuCMP have also been carried out. This includes tests with LCD illumination, optical projection tomography, and webcam systems. In reality, the pH is not distributed uniformly in tissues, and has shown a gradient of up to 1.0 pH unit within 1 cm distance. Therefore, producing reliable pH maps also in in-vitro can be important in understanding various common pathologies and location of lesions. A reliable and adequately developed long-term pH mapping method will be an important addition into the iuCMP

The 1st International Electronic Conference on Chemical Sensors and Analytical Chemistry

The 1st International Electronic Conference on Chemical Sensors and Analytical Chemistry was held on 1–15 July 2021. The scope of this online conference was to gather experts that are well-known worldwide who are currently working in chemical sensor technologies and to provide an online forum for the presention and discussion of new results. Throughout this event, topics of interest included, but were not limited to, the following: electrochemical devices and sensors; optical chemical sensors; mass-sensitive sensors; materials for chemical sensing; nano- and micro-technologies for sensing; chemical assays and validation; chemical sensor applications; analytical methods; gas sensors and apparatuses; electronic noses; electronic tongues; microfluidic devices; lab-on-a-chip; single-molecule sensing; nanosensors; and medico-diagnostic testing

Bio-surfactants-based lipid architectures as nanomedicine platforms

The use of nanocarriers for drug delivery and imaging purposes have highly increased in the last decades. Both hard and soft matter-based formulations can provide selective and efficient treatment in several administration routes. Indeed, the biocompatibility and the biodegradability of the formulations represent a key requirement in order to translate the in vitro studies into in vivo investigations. Therefore, lipids are a safe choice as building blocks to formulate a large variety of liquid crystalline architectures in water. Vesicles, hexosomes and cubosomes have been adopted as nanomedicine platforms providing excellent biological performances. However, several drawbacks may impact the application of these carriers: the poor stability in the physiological environment and the biodegradability of the stabilizing agent required to sterically stabilized the nanoparticles (NPs) are few examples. Given the importance these materials have acquired nowadays in the nanomedicine field, this thesis is devoted to investigating on the factors that can enhance the physico-chemical and biological performances of these nanoparticles for systemic and topical administration. Most of the formulations presented in this thesis were prepared using monoolein as building block, given its biocompatibility and lower cytotoxicity in comparison with other surfactants. However, the potential application of cell-derived nanoparticles known as nanoerythrosomes for medical imaging was also explored. Therefore, the thesis evaluated different approaches: (i) evaluation of the effect of various stabilizers (modified poloxamers, hemicellulose and polyphosphoesters) on monoolein-based cubosomes features, in order to formulate nanoparticles suitable for systemic administration. This investigation was focused on the physico-chemical (bulk and surface) characterization of the empty carriers and of those loaded with antioxidants or fluorophores suitable for in vitro imaging. Bioassays (viability and uptake experiments) were conducted in order to evaluate the biological performance of the differently stabilized cubosomes. (ii) the effect of permeation enhancers and edge activators on monoolein-based vesicles and hexosomes for topical administration. In vitro permeation tests were performed to show the efficacy of these carriers into overcoming the stratum corneum, the first layer of the skin, to deliver antioxidants. (iii) the potential role of nanoparticles derived from red blood cells, nanoerythrosomes, as personal medicine for application in optical imaging. Cross-linking and Click Chemistry were employed to decorate the surface of the nanoparticles and their emission properties in a physiological buffer were evaluate

Tailor-made nanocrystals for the treatment of oxidative stress-related diseases

In the present work, the NC of three poorly water-soluble antioxidants, BI-6C9, hesperetin and rutin, were prepared, characterized, and tested in suitable cell culture models. In addition, the production was optimized to obtain tailor-made NC for the treatment of oxidative stress-related diseases. These should be formulated to increase the solubility and thus bioavailability of the antioxidants used, while meeting the requirements of different administration routes regarding particle size, physical stability, and the final formulation. The synthesized compound, BI-6C9, was aimed to be converted into a formulation suitable for i.v. application in a resource-saving manner. This was successfully realized by using a small scale BM process in a batch size of 2 mL. A time and resource-saving pre-screening of four stabilizers (SDS, PLC, Tween 80, Span 20) was performed by microscopy, where SDS was identified to be the most suitable stabilizer. Then, BI-6C9 was successfully converted to NC with an average particle size of about 600 nm applying a milling time of 24 h. However, only the stabilizer Tween 80 is approved as save for intracortical or intracerebral application. By optimizing the milling time to 90 h, a Tween 80-stabilized nanosuspension was successfully produced and comparable to the SDS formulation regarding particle size and stability over seven days of storage. Also, in a cell culture model of oxidative stress-induced neuronal cell death, both nanosuspensions showed the same protective dose-response curve as a BI-6C9 solution in DMSO. This means that both NC formulations have reached their highest pharmacological efficacy because a formulation cannot become more effective than its solution. In addition, as an advantage, no harmful solvents were used for the cell culture studies and, especially, for a possible in-vivo application. By optimizing the preparation and stabilization with Tween 80 and SDS, tailor-made i.v. or orally applicable NC formulations were successfully developed for the treatment of neuronal oxidative stress