Flexible Health Monitoring: Advances in Microfluidics and Wearable Devices. Griffith University researchers are behind some major breakthroughs at the micro and nano scale, and recent research suggests that obtaining detailed information on the overall health of device owners may soon become a reality.
Dr. Jun Zhang and Dr. Navid Kashaninejad of Griffith’s Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Center is researching two current challenges in the field known as microfluidics: bio-sampling through nanoparticle separation; and wearable technology.
The two researchers published their results in this project, under the guidance of the director of the QMNC, Professor Nam-Trung Nguyen, recognized for his research in micro elastofluidics.
What is micro elastofluidics?
Micro-elastofluidics uses stretching and stretching to manipulate fluid leading to rapid and accurate diagnosis of medical problems.
Professor Nguyen said, “This technology allows the handling of small samples and reagents.
“My research is about the effects of medium and spread from sensors for cars to reduce lab-on-a-chip and wearable devices for health monitoring.”
For example, the QMNC research team has developed several cell stretching devices to study the behavior of cells under operational stress. Current work includes skin types, skin cancer types, bowel types and blood vessel types.
“As a complement to this important research, I recently developed a field called ‘micro-elasofluidics’ that uses extensibility and flexibility from the molecular scale to the device scale for proper processing of water samples,” said Professor Nguyen.
“It integrates microfluidics into flexible and implantable devices.”
Advantages of nanoparticle separation
Research Dr. Zhang has recently focused on isolating nanoparticles and how they can be used to obtain information about various health conditions.
The separation of the two parts, red and green shows their separation in the microfluidic channel.
These nanoparticles can be extracellular “vesicles”, which are secretory particles that our body cells secrete to communicate.
“Extracting these substances from fluid samples such as blood will provide a lot of information about health conditions,” Zhang said.
“The group may have anti-inflammatory and anti-aging effects and may serve as a treatment against aging and age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.”
The challenge is to separate the debris without damaging the delicate surface. Current techniques such as ultracentrifugation and ultrafiltration often destroy these materials.
Procedure Dr. Zhang uses a special fluid physics phenomenon called “inertial microfluidics” to avoid damaging these valuable and delicate materials.
“Advances in microfluidic technology have had a major impact on the biomedical field,” Dr. Zhang said.
“Microfluidic technology offers an unprecedented ability to control the movement of dissolved or suspended liquids and probes on a microscopic scale.”
These tests can be different blood cells, bacteria, viruses, DNA, RNA, proteins, glucose, lipids, etc. The proper processing and detection of these molecules is important for diagnosing diseases and monitoring the health conditions in the human body.
“Recently, we were invited to publish a critical research in Lab on a Chip (“Recent microfluidic advances in nanoparticle processing and separation”).
“We discussed traditional methods in microfluidics and the separation of nanoparticles in this article. Conventional methods generally have the advantages of timely operation, high yield, ease of use and good reproducibility, but they are limited by high cost and low purity. Advanced microfluidic technology with better separation resolution and cost-effectiveness.
“In the last decade, there have been significant advances in microfluidic technology to separate nanoparticles in a variety of applications, however, there are still large gaps to be filled. We investigated the challenges and solutions for the limitations is often overlooked.
Lead previews from mobile devices?
Research Dr. Kashaninejad explores the collection of health status information from wearable devices, using the concept of micro elastofluidics.
Now, wearable devices like smartwatches can collect physical information only about the owner. Gathering information about biochemical and biological conditions is more difficult due to the inability to “handle the liquid” of these devices.
Research Dr. Kashaninejad investigates a simple and effective solution for controlling moisture on the soft surface, which improves the skin’s elasticity so that a solution can be studied for measuring sweat and moisture under the skin.
“We will find these solutions in the near future with devices that can provide more information about the health status of the wearer than the current smartwatch,” he said.
“Skin-wearable systems for biofluid sampling and biomarker detection could revolutionize current practices in health monitoring and personalized medicine.
“However, there is still a long way to go before market adoption and acceptance of this fascinating technology.
“My recent book (“Microfluidic Solutions for Handling Biofluids in Skin-Wearable Systems”) compares different microfluidic systems that can be used for skin care. These systems include semiconductor-based microfluidic, polymer-based, water water-metal based, based on paper and textile.
“These devices can improve the scalability of wearable biosensors on the skin at the device level, and the availability of microfluidic solutions for collecting, transporting and controlling biofluids.
“The use of finger micropumps is a good solution for precise and on-demand biofluid pumping.
“There is great potential in this area, such as the application of continuous micro elastofluidics, stretchable superhydrophobic surfaces, water beads – small capsules with water content – as a form of digital micro elastofluidics, and diodes diode topologies receive little attention, but have great potential to be incorporated into membrane potential devices.
Source: Griffith University
