Fully Integrated Biochip Platforms for Advanced Healthcare

Recent advances in microelectronics and biosensors are enabling developments of innovative biochips for advanced healthcare by providing fully integrated platforms for continuous monitoring of a large set of human disease biomarkers. Continuous monitoring of several human metabolites can be addressed by using fully integrated and minimally invasive devices located in the sub-cutis, typically in the peritoneal region. This extends the techniques of continuous monitoring of glucose currently being pursued with diabetic patients. However, several issues have to be considered in order to succeed in developing fully integrated and minimally invasive implantable devices. These innovative devices require a high-degree of integration, minimal invasive surgery, long-term biocompatibility, security and privacy in data transmission, high reliability, high reproducibility, high specificity, low detection limit and high sensitivity. Recent advances in the field have already proposed possible solutions for several of these issues. The aim of the present paper is to present a broad spectrum of recent results and to propose future directions of development in order to obtain fully implantable systems for the continuous monitoring of the human metabolism in advanced healthcare applications

Is this the real time for genomics

In the last decades, molecular biology has moved from gene-by-gene analysis to more complex studies using a genome-wide scale. Thanks to high-throughput genomic technologies, such as microarrays and next-generation sequencing, a huge amount of information has been generated, expanding our knowledge on the genetic basis of various diseases. Although some of this information could be transferred to clinical diagnostics, the technologies available are not suitable for this purpose. In this review, we will discuss the drawbacks associated with the use of traditional DNA microarrays in diagnostics, pointing out emerging platforms that could overcome these obstacles and offer a more reproducible, qualitative and quantitative multigenic analysis. New miniaturized and automated devices, called Lab-on-Chip, begin to integrate PCR and microarray on the same platform, offering integrated sample-to-result systems. The introduction of this kind of innovative devices may facilitate the transition of genome-based tests into clinical routine. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/)

Validation of HepG2/C3A Cell Cultures in Cyclic Olefin Copolymer Based Microfluidic Bioreactors

Organ-on-chip (OoC) technology is one of the most promising in vitro tools to replace the traditional animal experiment-based paradigms of risk assessment. However, the use of OoC in drug discovery and toxicity studies remain still limited by the low capacity for high-throughput production and the incompatibility with standard laboratory equipment. Moreover, polydimethylsiloxanes, the material of choice for OoC, has several drawbacks, particularly the high absorption of drugs and chemicals. In this work, we report the development of a microfluidic device, using a process adapted for mass production, to culture liver cell line in dynamic conditions. The device, made of cyclic olefin copolymers, was manufactured by injection moulding and integrates Luer lock connectors compatible with standard medical and laboratory instruments. Then, the COC device was used for culturing HepG2/C3a cells. The functionality and behaviour of cultures were assessed by albumin secretion, cell proliferation, viability and actin cytoskeleton development. The cells in COC device proliferated well and remained functional for 9 days of culture. Furthermore, HepG2/C3a cells in the COC biochips showed similar behaviour to cells in PDMS biochips. The present study provides a proof-of-concept for the use of COC biochip in liver cells culture and illustrate their potential to develop OoC.This research was funded by Basque Country Government within the frame of the project BIKAINTEK 2018 (48-AF-W2-2018-00006). Taha Messelmani PhD is funded by ANR (Agence National de la Recherche, France, MIMLIVEROnChip ANR-19-CE19-0020-01 project)

Bioengineered Surfaces for Real-Time Label-Free Detection of Cancer Cells

Biosensing technology is an advancing field that benefits from the properties of biological processes combined to functional materials. Recently, biosensors have emerged as essential tools in biomedical applications, offering advantages over conventional clinical techniques for diagnosis and therapy. Optical biosensors provide fast, selective, direct, and cost-effective analyses allowing label-free and real-time tests. They have also shown exceptional potential for integration in lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices. The major challenge in the biosensor field is to achieve a fully operative LOC platform that can be used in any place at any time. The choice of an appropriate strategy to immobilize the biological element on the sensor surface becomes the key factor to obtain an applicable analytical tool. In this chapter, after a brief description of the main biofunctionalization procedures on silicon devices, two silicon-based chips that present an (i) IgG antibody or (ii) an Id-peptide as molecular probe, directed against the B-cell receptor of lymphoma cancer cells, will be presented. From a comparison in detecting cells, the Id-peptide device was able to detect lymphoma cells also at low cell concentrations (8.5 × 10−3 cells/μm2) and in the presence of a large amount of non-specific cells. This recognition strategy could represent a proof-of-concept for an innovative tool for the targeting of patient-specific neoplastic B cells during the minimal residual disease; in addition, it represents an encouraging starting point for the construction of a lab-on-a-chip system for the specific recognition of neoplastic cells in biological fluids enabling the follow-up of the changes of cancer cells number in patients, highly demanded for therapy monitoring applications

Biocompatible Packagings for Fully Implantable Multi-Panel Devices for Remote Monitoring of Metabolism

This paper compares three different biocompatible packagings suitable to support full implantation of multi-panel sensors for remote monitoring of metabolism. The three packagings have been designed, realized and implanted in mice for 30 days. ATP and neutrophil concentrations have been measured at the implant site after the device was explanted, to assess the level of biocompatibility of the device

Microfluidic Organ/Body-on-a-Chip Devices at the Convergence of Biology and Microengineering

Recent advances in biomedical technologies are mostly related to the convergence of biology with microengineering. For instance, microfluidic devices are now commonly found in most research centers, clinics and hospitals, contributing to more accurate studies and therapies as powerful tools for drug delivery, monitoring of specific analytes, and medical diagnostics. Most remarkably, integration of cellularized constructs within microengineered platforms has enabled the recapitulation of the physiological and pathological conditions of complex tissues and organs. The so-called organ-on-a-chip technology, which represents a new avenue in the field of advanced in vitro models, with the potential to revolutionize current approaches to drug screening and toxicology studies. This review aims to highlight recent advances of microfluidic-based devices towards a body-on-a-chip concept, exploring their technology and broad applications in the biomedical field.European Regional Development Fund-Project FNUSA-ICRC [CZ.1.05/1.1.00/02.0123]; Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal [UID/BIM/04773/2013]; Internal Research Grant Program, Universita Campus Bio-Medico di Romainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Updates of Wearing Devices (WDs) In Healthcare, And Disease Monitoring

 With the rising pervasiveness of growing populace, aging and chronic illnesses consistently rising medical services costs, the health care system is going through a crucial change from the conventional hospital focused system to an individual-focused system. Since the twentieth century, wearable sensors are becoming widespread in medical care and biomedical monitoring systems, engaging consistent estimation of biomarkers for checking of the diseased condition and wellbeing, clinical diagnostics and assessment in biological fluids like saliva, blood, and sweat. Recently, the improvements have been centered around electrochemical and optical biosensors, alongside advances with the non-invasive monitoring of biomarkers, bacteria and hormones, etc. Wearable devices have created with a mix of multiplexed biosensing, microfluidic testing and transport frameworks incorporated with flexible materials and body connections for additional created wear ability and effortlessness. These wearables hold guarantee and are fit for a higher understanding of the relationships between analyte focuses inside the blood or non-invasive biofluids and feedback to the patient, which is fundamentally significant in ideal finding, therapy, and control of diseases. In any case, cohort validation studies and execution assessment of wearable biosensors are expected to support their clinical acceptance. In the current review, we discussed the significance, highlights, types of wearables, difficulties and utilizations of wearable devices for biological fluids for the prevention of diseased conditions and real time monitoring of human wellbeing. In this, we sum up the different wearable devices that are developed for health care monitoring and their future potential has been discussed in detail