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Microfluidic separators play a pivotal role in the biomedical and chemical industries by enabling precise fluid manipulations. Traditional fabrication of these devices typically requires costly cleanroom facilities, which limits their broader application. This study introduces a novel microfluidic device that leverages the passive Zweifach-Fung principle to overcome these financial barriers. Through Lagrangian computational simulations, we optimized an eleven-channel Zweifach-Fung configuration that achieved a perfect 100% recall rate for particles following a specified normal distribution. Experimental evaluations determined 2 mL/h as the optimal total flow rate (TFR), under which the device showcased exceptional performance enhancements in precision and recall for micrometer-sized particles, achieving an overall accuracy of 94% ± 3%. Fabricated using a cost-effective, non-cleanroom method, this approach represents a significant shift from conventional practices, dramatically reducing production costs while maintaining high operational efficacy. The cost of each chip is less than USD 0.90 cents and the manufacturing process takes only 15 min. The development of this device not only makes microfluidic technology more accessible but also sets a new standard for future advancements in the field.
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Breast cancer ranks among the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide and bears the highest mortality rate. As an integral component of cancer treatment, mastectomy entails the complete removal of the affected breast. Typically, breast reconstruction, involving the use of silicone implants (augmentation mammaplasty), is employed to address the aftermath of mastectomy. To mitigate postoperative risks associated with mammaplasty, such as capsular contracture or bacterial infections, the functionalization of breast implants with coatings of cyclodextrin polymers as drug delivery systems represents an excellent alternative. In this context, our work focuses on the application of a mathematical model for simulating drug release from breast implants coated with cyclodextrin polymers. The proposed model considers a unidirectional diffusion process following Fick's second law, which was solved using the orthogonal collocation method, a numerical technique employed to approximate solutions for ordinary and partial differential equations. We conducted simulations to obtain release profiles for three therapeutic molecules: pirfenidone, used for preventing capsular contracture; rose Bengal, an anticancer agent; and the antimicrobial peptide KR-12. Furthermore, we calculated the diffusion profiles of these drugs through the cyclodextrin polymers, determining parameters related to diffusivity, solute solid-liquid partition coefficients, and the Sherwood number. Finally, integrating these parameters in COMSOL multiphysics simulations, the unidirectional diffusion mathematical model was validated.
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Although microparticles are frequently used in chemistry and biology, their effectiveness largely depends on the homogeneity of their particle size distribution. Microfluidic devices to separate and purify particles based on their size have been developed, but many require expensive cleanroom manufacturing processes. A cost-effective, passive microfluidic separator is presented, capable of efficiently sorting and purifying particles spanning the size range of 15 µm to 40 µm. Fabricated from Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) substrates using laser ablation, this device circumvents the need for cleanroom facilities. Prior to fabrication, rigorous optimization of the device's design was carried out through computational simulations conducted in COMSOL Multiphysics. To gauge its performance, chitosan microparticles were employed as a test case. The results were notably promising, achieving a precision of 96.14 %. This quantitative metric underscores the device's precision and effectiveness in size-based particle separation. This low-cost and accessible microfluidic separator offers a pragmatic solution for laboratories and researchers seeking precise control over particle sizes, without the constraints of expensive manufacturing environments. This innovation not only mitigates the limitations tied to traditional cleanroom-based fabrication but also widens the horizons for various applications within the realms of chemistry and biology.
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INTRODUCTION: Lung Ultrasonography (LUS) is a fast technique for the diagnosis of patients with respiratory syndromes. B-lines are seen in response to signal reverberations and amplifications into sites with peripheral lung fluid concentration or septal thickening. Mathematical models are commonly applied in biomedicine to predict biological responses to specific signal parameters. OBJECTIVE: This study proposes a Finite-Element numerical model to simulate radio frequency ultrasonic lines propagated from normal and infiltrated lung structures. For tissue medium, a randomized inhomogeneous data method was used. The simulation implemented in COMSOL® used Acoustic Pressure and Time-Explicit models, which are based on the discontinuous Galerkin method (dG). RESULTS: The RF signals, processed in MATLAB®, resulted in images of horizontal A-lines and vertical B-lines, which were reasonably similar to real images. DISCUSSION: The use of inhomogeneous materials in the model was good enough to simulate the scattering response, similar to others in the literature. The model is useful to study the impact of the lung infiltration characteristics on the appearance of LUS images.
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Melanoma is an aggressive type of skin cancer that accounts for over 75% of skin cancer deaths despite comprising less than 5% of all skin cancers. Despite promising improvements in surgical approaches for melanoma resection, the survival of undetectable microtumor residues has remained a concern. As a result, hyperthermia- and drug-based therapies have grown as attractive techniques to target and treat cancer. In this work, we aim to develop a stimuli-responsive hydrogel based on chitosan methacrylate (ChiMA), porcine small intestine submucosa methacrylate (SISMA), and doxorubicin-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (rGO-DOX) that eliminates microtumor residues from surgically resected melanoma through the coupled effect of NIR light-induced photothermal therapy and heat-induced doxorubicin release. Furthermore, we developed an in silico model to optimize heat and mass transport and evaluate the proposed chemo/photothermal therapy in vitro over melanoma cell cultures.
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La queratotomía radial es uno de los métodos quirúrgicos empleados para corregir los defectos ópticos de las personas; ésta ha sido ampliamente estudiada, e incluso se han propuesto nomogramas que permiten predecir los resultados de algunas geometrías; a pesar de esto, las experiencias postoperatorias han demostrado que la tasa de éxito de las cirugías es baja, ya que se presenta hipocorrección o hipercorrección de los pacientes, obligándolos a usar ayudas externas o llevándolos a someterse nuevamente a una cirugía. Teniendo en cuenta esto, se desarrolló una plataforma para simular estas cirugías por medio del método de elementos finitos, empleando los programas Matlab y COMSOL Multiphysics. Por medio de la rutina creada es posible obtener un modelo de la córnea preoperatoria que se asemeje tanto en geometría, como en condiciones de esfuerzo, a la córnea real; adicionalmente, es posible adaptar la geometría de la queratotomía radial que desee simularse. Se realizaron simulaciones para una cirugía compuesta de dos arcos y otra de tres arcos; los resultados obtenidos demuestran la capacidad de la simulación numérica para avanzar en el desarrollo de la cirugía refractiva, al ser posible estudiar parámetros, que de forma experimental, son difíciles de tener en cuenta, como la geometría inicial de la córnea y la edad del paciente, lo cual influye en el módulo de elasticidad del material; por otra parte, se encontró que esta aplicación es una potencial herramienta para los oftalmólogos, pues tiene la capacidad de predecir los resultados postoperatorios.
Radial keratotomy is used as a methodology to correct refractive errors. This surgery has been widely studied and also nomograms have been proposed in order to predict postoperative results of some types of keratotomies. Despite these eff orts, surgical evidence has shown a low success rate because of undercorrection or overcorrection, forcing patients to use spectacles or contact lenses, after surgery, or even leads them to a new procedure. A simulation platform was developed in an attempt to study these surgeries, employing the finite element method, using Matlab and COMSOL Multiphysics simultaneously. The routine is capable of simulate the preoperative cornea in terms of geometry and stress configuration. Also, it could be adapted to simulate any kind of radial keratotomy LASIK and PRK surgeries. Simulations for a double arc keratotomy and a triple arc keratotomy were developed. Results provide evidence of the capability of the platform to improve knowledge of refractive surgery taking into account the possibility to analyze the effect produced by corneal geometry and patient age, which aff ects the elastic modulus of the material, parameters difficult to analyze in an in-vivo experiment. Besides, it demonstrates the potential of the program as a tool for the surgeon to plan refractive surgery.