BioMEMS

Research that includes:

  • Immunosensors
  • Single Cell Analysis
  • Cell Manipulation and Probing
  • SERS BioImaging
  • Micro Total Analysis Systems uTAS
  • DNA Transformations
  • Cell Cryropreservation
  • Optoelectronic Transport & Tweezers

APP98/LPL: Insulative Dielectrophoresis (iDEP) Preconcentration and Ultrasonic Lysis of Bacterial Endospores in a Zeonor Substrate

Trey Cauley
2005

This research project seeks to integrate an insulative dielectrophoretic (iDEP) pre-concentrator along with an ultrasonic bacterial endospore lyser into a single Zeonor substrate. This project is unique in that it combines aluminum nitride (AlN) ultrasonic transducers (developed at UC Berkeley) for endospore lysis with insulative dielectrophoretic concentrators (iDEP – developed at Sandia National Laboratories) for the first time on a common Zeonor substrate. The ultrasonic resonator will be mechanically packaged by the Zeonor substrate and will have the appropriate fluidic and...

RTH/JDK2: Biomimetic Nanofabrication of Silica Structures Based on Diatoms

William J. Holtz
2006

Diatoms are a type of brown algae that create hydrated silicon-dioxide structures with feature sizes down to 5 nm at ambient temperature and pressure. The goal of this project is to replicate these processes in vitro and then manipulate the process parameters to create engineered structures.

Project end date: 01/09/06

MCW1: Optoelectronic Tweezers for Cell and Microparticle Manipulation

Pei-Yu (Eric) Chiou
2005

Optical tweezers have been widely used to manipulate biological cells and particles since it was demonstrated by Ashkin in 1986. However, optical manipulation using direct optical force requires tight optical focusing and is only availabe in small area. Here, we proposed a novel mechanism which enables optical manipulation using optical power 5 orders of magnitude less than that of conventional optical tweezers. This mechanism is realied by inducing optically defined virtual electrodes on semiconductive thin films. This induced virtual electrodes create highly non-uniform electric...

LPL32: Disposable Multi Patch Clamps Using Planar Fludic Channels

Jeonggi Seo
2005

Patch clamp technique has had a profound impact on electrophysiology, playing a crucial role in the characterization of cellular ion channels. Traditionally, the technique was accomplished with a glass pipette positioned by a micromanipulator under a microscope. Even though patch clamp technique has been improved, it is still laborious and requires precise micromanipulation of glass pipettes and skillful handling of the electrical sealing. In addition, the irreversible sealing between cell membranes and pipettes need a new pipette for every new experiment. Because of these...

LPL41: Raised Lateral Patch Clamp Array

Adrian Y. Lau
Paul J. Hung
2006

We are developing a prototype capable of reproducing both the geometry and the function of the traditional glass micropipette tip on chip in a high density configuration. Our technology provides a novel high throughput platform for ion channel studies and is highly compatible with existing multiple-well plate format, allowing simple integration with robotic sample handling system. The device is fabricated on transparent polymer substrate PDMS, and thus allows easy integration with immunofluorescent assay platform to provides electrical and optical measurement concurrently....

LPL35: Microfluidic Cell Culture Array

Philip Lee
2005

The investigation of biological processes on the cellular level is becoming increasingly important for medical and bioengineering purposes. We have learned from genomics and proteomics that a vast amount of molecular information is integrated on the cell level. However, current technology is limited in the ability to assay cellular responses to stimuli in high throughput format. Specifically, a standardized platform to perform array experiments on the laboratory scale is needed to help scientists unravel the complexities of eukaryotic cellular behavior. To this end, we are developing...

LPL39: Integrated Microfluidic SERS Devices

Beomseok Kim
Jeoggi Seo
2005

Raman is a label-free analytical method, which offers tremendous advantages for biomolecular detection. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technique can overcome the low cross-sectional problems inherent in Raman spectroscopy. SERS has been observed for a very large number of molecules adsorbed on the surface of Au or Ag in a variety of morphologies and physical environments. With these environments, its detection limit can reach up to 6-10 orders of magnitude over conventional Raman spectroscopy. We know nanoparticle sizes (15-200 nm) and interparticle spaces (0-10 nm) are...

LPL38: Electrophysiology Using a High-Density Microfluidic Array

Ionescu-Zanetti
Jeonggi Seo
2005

The fact that cellular ion channels are effective drug targets, coupled with the laboriousness of traditional patch clamp techniques, has created a need for hi-throughput electrophysiology platforms. Patch clamp based drug screening technology has been recently implemented by using microfabricated patch clamp designs that replace the traditional patch pipette with a pore in a silicon substrate. While successful at high-throughput measurements of channel activity, current devices have yet to achieve high densities of patched cells per unit volume and rely on robotically operated...

BPN327: Plastic Microsyringe

Kathleen Fischer
2006

Stem cells hold the promise of producing functional tissues which can replace those lost due to disease or injury. New organ tissues, such as those found in the heart, liver, or nervous system, can be created from pluripotent stem cells through the process of differentiation. Additionally, pluripotent stem cells can produce an unlimited supply of new stem cells in a process called "self-renewal". In culture, pluripotent stem cells form isolated colonies, and the geometry of these colonies can have a profound impact on their capacity for differentiation. Current culture techniques...

LPL42: Multifunctional Nano-Crescent Probes for Molecular Imaging of Intracellular Signaling Pathway

Gang L. Liu
Jaeyoun Kim
2006

The main goal of this project is to develop novel multifunctional nano-crescent probes with tunable plasmon resonance wavelength, high local field enhancement factor, photothermal sensitivity and magnetic controllability that 1. Enable the real-time and long-term sensing of intracellular activities in response to different inputs with high spatiotemporal resolution; 2. Deliver drugs to desire locations in single cells and regulate drug release on demand. 3. Allow fast and high-throughput monitoring in microfluidic cellular chip.

Project end date: 08/01/06