Welcome to our latest Conference Report!
Following the positive feedback on our MicroTAS Conference report from Montreal, here is the report from our latest visit in California. Indeed, the Elveflow team landed in sunny California for client visits and the SelectBio Lab-on-a-Chip and Microfluidics World Congress! This year’s event featured groundbreaking innovations and emerging trends in microfluidics research, highlighted by inspiring plenary sessions and a presentation by our own Theo Champetier, Technical Sales Engineer.
Read on to discover the key takeaways and cutting-edge advancements you may have missed!
We had the opportunity to visit clients across California to discuss their ongoing projects and applications involving Elveflow setups. Among them was the brilliant Manikantam Gaddam, a research engineer in the Urology Department at Stanford University. Here’s what he shared about his research:
“Our research project involves setting up an in vitro model for the upper urinary tract, which simulates physiological conditions to study urinary system dynamics. Using Elveflow’s precise pressure control equipment, we are able to apply dynamic bladder pressures that mimic those found in live organisms. This setup allows us to investigate the mechanical behavior of the upper urinary tract under various pressure conditions, providing valuable insights into how the bladder and kidneys interact in both normal and pathological states. The Elveflow system’s ability to provide accurate and stable pressure control has been crucial in creating a reliable model for our studies.”
Moving on to the Lab-on-a-Chip and Microfluidics World Congress, we had the chance to attend truly empowering talks from renowned researchers.
Immunoengineering is transforming medicine, with microfluidics driving innovations in precision therapies. Abraham Lee, Chancellor’s Professor at UC Irvine, presented groundbreaking methods addressing challenges in adoptive cell therapy (ACT) and immune response modulation.
Professor Lee presented the groundbreaking AESOP technology, rooted in Lateral Cavity Acoustic Transducer (LCAT) innovation. This platform enables uniform intracellular delivery of large cargos with targeted, precise dosages—a game-changer for gene editing. By eliminating the need for viral transfection, AESOP offers a safer, scalable alternative for delivering large plasmids into extensive cell populations.
The process begins with cells being trapped using LCAT’s acoustic streaming array. AESOP then generates sonoporation, driven by mechanical shear stress and uniform electric fields, to create nanopores in cell membranes. This ensures efficient, high-viability delivery of cargos ranging from <1 kDa to 2 MDa at a rate of 1 million cells per minute per chip! (Aghaamoo et. al, 2021)
Discover more about acoustofluidics applications in our latest review !
Professor Lee also showcased a microfluidic platform enabling three-dimensional (3D) isotropic imaging of live suspension cells using droplet microvortices. Nonadherent cells, such as hematopoietic cell types, are typically cultured and handled in their suspended phenotype. However, systematic 3D imaging of these populations is challenging due to sample drift, which often requires cells to be fixed, attached to surfaces, or imaged with high temporal resolution.
This innovative platform encapsulates single cells in droplets, allowing controlled rotation in an arrayed format. This technique enables 360° inspection of free-floating cells and rapid acquisition (~5 to 8 seconds per cell) of live 3D single-cell fluorescence data. Additionally, it facilitates cell shape analysis independent of suspended orientation, providing a systematic framework for studying the morphology of nonadherent cell populations. (Braulio Cardenas-Benitez et. al, 2024)
Each trap consists of an inverted, circular microwell that can trap exactly one cell-laden droplet. Continuous oil perfusion transfers shear stress to the inside of droplets, generating recirculation microvortices that drive cell self-rotation.
Professor Lee further discussed the use of cell-sized artificial antigen-presenting cells (aAPCs) for efficient T-cell activation. These aAPCs, constructed with protein-conjugated bilayer lipid membranes through double-emulsion microfluidics, mimic biological cell membranes and leverage double-emulsion techniques to achieve superior performance. This method demonstrated significantly more efficient T-cell activation compared to standard techniques, requiring lower dosages to achieve the desired immune response. This advancement highlights the potential of artificial cells in enhancing antigen-specific T-cell activation, driving innovations in immunotherapy and vaccine development. (Chen et. al, 2023)
Roger Kamm, Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering at MIT, shared insights into the progression of models designed to mimic the healthy and diseased brain. These advanced neurovascular models aim to predict transport properties and provide deeper understanding, with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease. Professor Kamm highlighted how these in vitro models are increasingly replicating in vivo physiological conditions, offering a transformative approach to studying brain health and disease.
Theo Champetier, Elveflow’s technical sales engineer, highlighted the company’s expertise in PDMS microfabrication and high-performance automated flow control. With a solid foundation in system design, Elveflow supports countless applications in cutting-edge research. Theo showcased recent innovations, including light field flow cytometry and gut-on-a-chip platforms, emphasizing Elveflow’s significant impact on advancing scientific research.
To learn how Elveflow can accelerate your research, don’t hesitate to contact us!
Dino Di Carlo, the Armond and Elena Hairapetian Chair in Engineering and Medicine at UCLA, explored innovations in Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC) and the emerging Lab-on-a-Particle (LoP) technologies. Building on established microfluidic platforms for drug testing (as reviewed here), LoP represents a transformative approach to microscale reactions. Unlike traditional LoC systems, which use microchambers or droplets to study cells and rely on custom instrumentation and low-throughput analysis, LoP utilizes microparticles to confine reactions, enabling fully suspendable and highly parallelized analyses.
LoP platforms use uniquely shaped or chemically functionalized microparticles to enable tasks such as templating droplets, capturing molecules or cells, barcoding reactions, cell loading, analyte binding, reagent exchange, washing, and templating water-in-oil emulsions. These compartments are compatible with accessible instruments like fluorescence-activated cell sorters (FACS) and standard microscopes.
Professor Di Carlo highlighted how nanovials, a LoP innovation, are manufactured in microfluidic setups for water-in-oil emulsions. These nanovials feature a PEG shell that traps a sacrificial dextran phase. The gelatin or PEG surface can then be functionalized with desired capture proteins. As an example, this technology enables high-throughput single-cell analysis, allowing the isolation and selection of cells based on extracellular vesicle expression levels while maintaining their therapeutic phenotype over extended periods. These advancements underscore the potential of LoP technologies to complement traditional Lab-on-a-Chip methods, driving the next generation of life science research tools. (Ghosh et. al 2024)
Adam Abate, Professor of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at UCSF, presented high-throughput methods for studying protein functionality. While AI has advanced protein structure prediction, understanding function remains complex due to dynamic protein mechanics. High-throughput experimentation enables mapping of protein functionality by analyzing large numbers of variants.
Professor Abate also addressed challenges in HIV research, particularly during clinical phases with antiretroviral therapy, when viral resurgence is monitored. Current methods for viral load analysis are costly and lengthy, with digital PCR offering a cheaper but less accurate alternative. Effective viral loads are rare, with only 1 in 10,000 cells infected, and less than 5% carrying a functional genome.
Using his FIND-seq method—developed for single-cell DNA and protein sequencing—Professor Abate demonstrated a precise and efficient way to locate viral DNA. FIND-seq is a high-throughput microfluidic cytometry method that combines encapsulation of cells in droplets, PCR-based detection of target nucleic acids, and droplet sorting. This approach enables in-depth transcriptomic analyses of cells of interest at single-cell resolution. FIND-seq enhances high-speed HIV viral load analysis, reducing costs and improving accuracy in monitoring therapeutic outcomes. (Clark et. al, 2023)
Steve Soper, Foundation Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center of BioModular Multi-Scale System for Precision Medicine at The University of Kansas, presented on the applications of resistive pulse sensing (RPS) in nanofluidics for biological and medical research. RPS is a technique that measures changes in ionic current as individual particles pass through a sensing channel, enabling precise detection and analysis of biomolecules.
Professor Soper highlighted advances in nanofluidic technologies, with channels as small as tens of nanometers designed for sorting individual molecules. Thermoplastic nanofluidic devices, fabricated using techniques such as nanoimprint lithography and nanoinjection molding, were showcased as promising platforms for single biomolecule sensing due to their scalability and cost-effectiveness. Surface charge modification, a critical aspect of these devices, was demonstrated using multivalent cations to alter surface charge density, improving molecular capture and transport efficiency.
These innovations in nanofluidic design and functionality hold significant potential for advancing precision medicine and enabling high-resolution molecular analysis. (Jia et. al, 2013 and Shiri et. al 2024)
Moderated by Roger Kamm and David Weitz, this roundtable explored the challenges of growing a microfluidic chip business. Claudia Gärtner, CEO of microfluidic ChipShop GmbH, emphasized strong European collaboration between startups, academia, and public funding. David Weitz noted that U.S. VC funding accelerates growth but carries higher risks.
The discussion revealed no clear consensus on a single technological approach for large-scale, highly profitable microfluidic chip production. Participants debated the role of intellectual property (IP) and trade secrets, reaching a general agreement that while highly efficient technologies are likely to be adapted by competitors, IP protection can provide companies with crucial “breathing room.” Diverging views emerged on IP strategies, with U.S. participants emphasizing patents on commercially viable ideas, whereas European perspectives supported broader IP encouragement to foster innovation.
Thank you for joining us on this exploration of the latest advancements from SelectBio California 2024. We are excited to continue supporting the microfluidics community and driving innovation together.
Stay tuned for more updates and breakthroughs!
For any help to determine what microfluidic instruments you need, you can contact us! Our experts will help you build the best microfluidic setup for your application, with our state-of-the-art microfluidic line.
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