Preface book Microfluidics for medical applications

Lab-on-a-chip devices for point of care diagnostics have been present in clinics for several years now. Alongside their continual development, research is underway to bring the organs and tissue on-a-chip to the patient, amongst other medical applications of microfluidics.This book provides the reader with a comprehensive review of the latest developments in the application of microfluidics to medicine and is divided into three main sections. The first part of the book discusses the state-of-the-art in organs and tissue on a chip; the second provides a thorough background to microfluidics for medicine, and the third (and largest) section provides numerous examples of point-of-care diagnostics.Written with students and practitioners in mind, and with contributions from the leaders in the field across the globe, this book provides a complete digest of the state-of-the-art in microfluidics medical devices and will provide a handy resource for any laboratory or clinic involved in the development or application of such devices

On-Chip Detection of Beads with a New Electrical Impedance Sensor

Electrical impedance measurements in microfluidic chips are used for single cell analysis. Parallel electrodes are more suited than planar ones since the electrical field distribution is more homogenous. Previous studies showed methods to make parallel electrodes by incorporating an additional layer between two glass wafers, making electrical connections to both sides needed. Also alignment of electrodes is necessary, making the fabrication of parallel electrodes more elaborate. Therefore a new, simpler fabrication method is developed for the fabrication of parallel electrode chips by incorporating a floating electrode in the microchannel just by adding one step in the fabrication process. In this way, only one side of the chip contains electrical connections. Finally, electrical impedance measurements with 3 and 6 µm polystyrene beads were done. All beads were detected and we have shown that it is possible to distinguish the two beads sizes from each other with a confidence level of 95%, based on the relative change in the electrical impedance

Spermatozoa detection and counting on Chip

Semen analysis is usually one of the first tests performed for detecting the cause of infertility of a couple. Therefore the man has to collect his semen in a special container and deliver it within one hour of collection to the hospital. The parameters determined with a semen analysis are the morphology and motility of the spermatozoa in the semen, as well as the concentratio