Microfluidic photoreactor to treat neonatal jaundice.

While in most cases, jaundice can be effectively treated using phototherapy, severe cases require exchange transfusion, a relatively risky procedure in which the neonate's bilirubin-rich blood is replaced with donor blood. Here, we examine extracorporeal blood treatment in a microfluidic photoreactor as an alternative to exchange transfusion. This new treatment approach relies on the same principle as phototherapy but leverages microfluidics to speed up bilirubin removal.

Smart Hydrogel Micromechanical Resonators with Ultrasound Readout for Biomedical Sensing.

One of the main challenges for implantable biomedical sensing schemes is obtaining a reliable signal while maintaining biocompatibility. In this work, we demonstrate that a combination of medical ultrasound imaging and smart hydrogel micromechanical resonators can be employed for continuous monitoring of analyte concentrations. The sensing principle is based on the shift of the mechanical resonance frequencies of smart hydrogel structures induced by their volume-phase transition in response to changing analyte levels.

Low-Cost Microfluidic Sensors with Smart Hydrogel Patterned Arrays Using Electronic Resistive Channel Sensing for Readout.

There is a strong commercial need for inexpensive point-of-use sensors for monitoring disease biomarkers or environmental contaminants in drinking water. Point-of-use sensors that employ smart polymer hydrogels as recognition elements can be tailored to detect almost any target analyte, but often suffer from long response times. Hence, we describe here a fabrication process that can be used to manufacture low-cost point-of-use hydrogel-based microfluidics sensors with short response times.

Bio-mimetic synthetic cell hydrogel magnetometer.

We present a bio-inspired hydrogel magnetometer where the cell potential (V ) between two hydrogels is used to measure an external magnetic field. Ferromagnetic particles located in the hydrogels move in response to the external field and change the V (sensitivity ~ 3.7 V T).

Remote Microwave and Field-Effect Sensing Techniques for Monitoring Hydrogel Sensor Response.

This paper presents two novel techniques for monitoring the response of smart hydrogels composed of synthetic organic materials that can be engineered to respond (swell or shrink, change conductivity and optical properties) to specific chemicals, biomolecules or external stimuli. The first technique uses microwaves both in contact and remote monitoring of the hydrogel as it responds to chemicals. This method is of great interest because it can be used to non-invasively monitor the response of subcutaneously implanted hydrogels to blood chemicals such as oxygen and glucose.