Micromachining technology was used to prepare chemical analysis systems on glass chips (1 centimeter by 2 centimeters or larger) that utilize electroosmotic pumping to drive fluid flow and electrophoretic separation to distinguish sample components. Capillaries 1 to 10 centimeters long etched in the glass (cross section, 10 micrometers by 30 micrometers) allow for capillary electrophoresis-based separations of amino acids with up to 75,000 theoretical plates in about 15 seconds, and separations of about 600 plates can be effected within 4 seconds. Sample treatment steps within a manifold of intersecting capillaries were demonstrated for a simple sample dilution process. Manipulation of the applied voltages controlled the directions of fluid flow within the manifold. The principles demonstrated in this study can be used to develop a miniaturized system for sample handling and separation with no moving parts.

Micromachining a miniaturized capillary electrophoresis-based chemical analysis system on a chip

Technology 4403 Microfabrication 4403 Assembly and Interfacing 4404 Optical Integration 4405 Flow Control 4405 Standard Operations 4406 Sample Preparation 4406 Injection and Separation 4407 Fluidic Reactors 4407 Particle and Cell Sorting 4409 Cell Trapping and Culture 4409 Applications 4410 Clinical Diagnostics 4410 Nucleic Acids 4411 Proteins 4412 Cell and Tissue Studies 4413 Environmental Monitoring 4414 Literature Cited 4414

Micro total analysis systems: latest achievements.

Abstract Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices offer many attractive features for application as vapour phase chemical microsensors. This paper describes the characteristics of SAW devices and techniques by which they can be employed as vapour sensors. The perturbation of SAW velocity by polymeric coating films is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Highest sensitivity can be achieved when the device is used as the resonating element in a delay line oscillator circuit. A simple equation has been developed from theoretical considerations which offers reasonably accurate quantitative predictions of SAW device frequency shifts when subjected to a given mass loading. In this mode the SAW device behaves very like conventional bulk-wave quartz crystal microbalances except that the sensitivity can be several orders of magnitude higher and the device size can be several orders of magnitude smaller. Detection of mass changes of a few femtograms by a SAW device having a surface area of 10−4 cm2 is theoretically possible.

Mechanism of operation and design considerations for surface acoustic wave device vapor sensors

Mammalian spermatozoa motility is a subject of growing importance because of rising human infertility and the possibility of improving animal breeding. We highlight opportunities for fluid and continuum dynamics to provide novel insights concerning the mechanics of these specialized cells, especially during their remarkable journey to the egg. The biological structure of the motile sperm appendage, the flagellum, is described and placed in the context of the mechanics underlying the migration of mammalian sperm through the numerous environments of the female reproductive tract. This process demands certain specific changes to flagellar movement and motility for which further mechanical insight would be valuable, although this requires improved modeling capabilities, particularly to increase our understanding of sperm progression in vivo. We summarize current theoretical studies, highlighting the synergistic combination of imaging and theory in exploring sperm motility, and discuss the challenges for future observational and theoretical studies in understanding the underlying mechanics.

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Mammalian Sperm Motility: Observation and Theory

This review presents a deep insight into the Surface Generated Acoustic Wave (SGAW) technology for biosensing applications, based on more than 40 years of technological and scientific developments. In the last 20 years, SGAWs have been attracting the attention of the biochemical scientific community, due to the fact that some of these devices - Shear Horizontal Surface Acoustic Wave (SH-SAW), Surface Transverse Wave (STW), Love Wave (LW), Flexural Plate Wave (FPW), Shear Horizontal Acoustic Plate Mode (SH-APM) and Layered Guided Acoustic Plate Mode (LG-APM) - have demonstrated a high sensitivity in the detection of biorelevant molecules in liquid media. In addition, complementary efforts to improve the sensing films have been done during these years. All these developments have been made with the aim of achieving, in a future, a highly sensitive, low cost, small size, multi-channel, portable, reliable and commercially established SGAW biosensor. A setup with these features could significantly contribute to future developments in the health, food and environmental industries. The second purpose of this work is to describe the state-of-the-art of SGAW biosensors for the detection of pathogens, being this topic an issue of extremely importance for the human health. Finally, the review discuses the commercial availability, trends and future challenges of the SGAW biosensors for such applications.

/pdf/surface-generated-acoustic-wave-biosensors-for-the-detection-1so46egl0c.pdf

Surface generated acoustic wave biosensors for the detection of pathogens: a review.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are the most commonly used assisted reproductive technologies to overcome male infertility problems. One of the obstacles of IVF and ICSI procedures is separating motile sperm from non-motile sperm to select the most competent sperm population from any given sperm sample. In addition, orientation and separation of the head from the tail is another obstacle for ICSI. Using the self-movement of sperm against flow direction, motile and non-motile sperm can be separated with an inexpensive polymeric microfluidic system. In this paper, we describe the development of a microfluidic system obtained through low-cost fabrication processes. We report experimental results of sperm sorting using hydrostatic pressure of three different species: bull, mouse, and human. The movement of cells in these channels was observed under a microscope and recorded with a digital camera. It is shown that the hydrostatic pressure and self-movement of motile sperm can be used to solve separating, aligning and orienting sperm in the microchannel.

Development of sorting, aligning, and orienting motile sperm using microfluidic device operated by hydrostatic pressure

In this paper, we describe the fabrication of ceramic thin films for high-temperature heat flux sensors. The polymer-derived ceramic (PDC) thin films are prepared by using soft lithography on pre-ceramic polymer precursors followed by pyrolysis and heat treatment. Processing routes have been developed which lead to thin film resistance-thermal detectors (RTD) that have sufficient mechanical strength for handling and for use in thermal sensing. The effect of annealing temperatures on the electric resistivity of the PDC sensors was investigated. The electrical resistivity of the sensors was measured at different temperatures.

Fabrication and electrical properties of polymer-derived ceramic (PDC) thin films for high-temperature heat flux sensors

A fabrication process is developed for producing resistance-temperature detectors (RTD) made from a polymer derived ceramic (PDC). To fabricate the composite ceramic RTDs, screen printing of the polymer on quartz substrates is used. To overcome the shrinkage problem of PDCs, active filler powders are added to the polysilazane polymer before pyrolysis. With 60 wt% of Al or 80 wt% of TiB 2 powder, the linear shrinkage of the ceramic composite was reduced to near zero which enabled it to survive on a quartz substrate without any damage. The electrical resistance of the gold-electroded sensors was measured at elevated temperature. XRD and SEM analysis were conducted to determine the composition of the ceramic composite RTDs.

Fabrication using filler controlled pyrolysis and characterization of polysilazane PDC RTD arrays on quartz wafers

Many surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors are self-excited oscillators, where the self-excitation is a consequence of the time-delay in the propagation of the acoustic waves. In dual-delay-line oscillator sensors, differences in the lengths of delays are detected through differences in oscillation frequencies. In this paper, we identify synchronization as a potential problem that can cause the sensors to behave in an unexpected manner. We model SAW sensors with delay differential equations. Using the method of averaging and the stability analysis of the fixed points of the averaged equations, we show that stable synchronized solutions exist in dual-delay-line oscillator sensors consisting of one pair of fingers each. For dual-delay-line oscillator sensors with multiple-fingers, we use numerical simulation methods to show the occurrence of synchronization. We propose methods to reduce the possibility of synchronization. Moreover, we propose methods for sensing in the presence of synchronization.

Duck-bong Seo

Papers

Development of sorting, aligning, and orienting motile sperm using microfluidic device operated by hydrostatic pressure

Fabrication and electrical properties of polymer-derived ceramic (PDC) thin films for high-temperature heat flux sensors

Fabrication using filler controlled pyrolysis and characterization of polysilazane PDC RTD arrays on quartz wafers

Synchronization problem in delay-line oscillator SAW sensors