Innovations in Microfluidics & 3D-Printing Europe 2024 Agenda

Conference Registration and Materials Pick-Up + Coffee in the Exhibit Hall

Computer Simulations of Microfluidics – What Can We Learn, and How Can They Help Us?
Timm Krüger, Professor of Fluid and Suspension Dynamics, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Microfluidics has become ubiquitous in the past decades. Exploiting various physical and chemical mechanisms, microfluidics offers fast and affordable solutions to pressing problems in industry and healthcare. However, due to the complexity and interplay of the involved mechanisms and geometries, it is notoriously difficult to reliably predict outcomes and design microfluidic devices. Computer simulations can help shed light on the underlying mechanisms and facilitate the design process. I will highlight the opportunities for experimental/numerical synergies to advance microfluidics further.

Mid-Morning Coffee Break and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

Ultrasound – A New Tool for Biofabrication
Kai Melde, Group Leader, Heidelberg University, Germany

Biofabrication includes methods that print bioinks or directly assemble biological components (e. g. cells, microgels or spheroids) with the goal of creating functional tissues. Most of these methods require direct mechanical access (e. g. extrusion printing or aspiration-based pick & place) and work serially (point-by-point or layer-by-layer), which scales poorly to volumetric shapes and applies undue stress on biological cells. Over the last decade, ultrasound emerged as a tool for contactless manipulation of matter, including microparticles and biological cells. Its ease-of-use and favorable operating parameters led to a wide adoption especially in the microfluidics community (e. g. for cell sorting). However, the effects of ultrasound can act over much larger length scales, provided that there is sufficient control over the sound field. In this talk, I will present how ultrasound combined with holographic beamforming enables us to create very complex sound fields, which can direct the parallel assembly of matter to arbitrary shapes in 3D. Our technique is compatible with standard labware (such as sample tubes, culture inserts or cuvettes) and shown to work with solid microparticles, hydrogel beads and mammalian cells. As such, ultrasound promises to become a new tool for biofabrication, enabling the formation of cell aggregates without contact.

Networking Buffet Lunch in the Exhibit Hall -- Networking with Colleagues, Engage with Exhibitors and View Posters

SOIL-ON-A-CHIP: Deciphering the Secret Life of Soil Microbes Using Novel Microfluidic Platforms
Claire Stanley, Senior Lecturer in Bioengineering, Imperial College London, United Kingdom

Soil is one of the most complex systems on Earth, governed by numerous physical, geochemical and biological processes, and provides the ecosystem services vital for all forms of terrestrial life. This ‘material’ supports a myriad of plants, microorganisms and microfauna and hosts a complex array of interactions taking place between these living elements at the cellular scale. Microbes play a crucial role in the ecosystem services provided by soils to humans and provide several important ecosystem functions that include nutrient cycling, the biocontrol of pathogens and regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. However, despite the importance of microbes in soil functioning, there exists a major knowledge gap concerning the function and dynamics of the soil microbiome and influence of the physio-chemical environment upon microbial interaction and communication at the cellular level. The ability to untangle microbial interaction and communication networks in soil is central to gaining an enhanced understanding of soil microbiome and ecosystem function. In recent years, it has been demonstrated that microfluidic technology offers new opportunities to study whole living organisms and their interactions at cellular level, affording precise environmental control, high-resolution imaging and the simulation of environmental complexity. Several microfluidic systems have been developed to probe interactions between fungi, bacteria and nematodes, as well as the interaction of plant roots with their environment. My lab is now developing new microfluidic tools to investigate the cell biology and physiology of microbial spore germination and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi hyphal growth dynamics.

Engineering Synthetic Cells from the Bottom-Up
Tom Robinson, Lecturer in Chemical Engineering, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

One of the aims of synthetic biology is the bottom-up construction of synthetic cells from non-living components. Building biomimetic cells and controlling each aspect of their design not only provides the opportunity to understand real cells and their origins, but also offers alternative routes to novel biotechnologies. Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) are commonly used as scaffolds to construct synthetic cells owing to their compatibility with existing biological components, but traditional methods to form them are limited. Microfluidic-based approaches for GUV production show great potential for encapsulating large biomolecules required for mimicking life-like functions (Yandrapalli et al. Micromachines, 11, 285, 2020; Love et al. Angew Chemie, 59, 5950–5957, 2020). First, I will present a microfluidic platform that is able to produce surfactant-free pure lipid GUVs in a high-throughput manner (Yandrapalli et al. Commun Chem, 4, 100, 2021). The major advancement is that the lipid membranes are produced in the absence of block co-polymers or surfactants that can affect their biocompatibility - which is commonly overlooked. The design can produce homogenously sized GUVs with tuneable diameters from 10 to 130 µm. Encapsulation is uniform and we show that the membranes are oil-free by measuring the diffusion of lipids via FRAP measurements. Next, I will present how we modified this device to encapsulate two sub-populations of nano-sized vesicles for the purpose of establishing enzymatic cascade reactions across membrane-bound compartments, therefore mimicking eukaryotic cells (Shetty et al. ACS Nano, 15, 15656, 2021). The final synthetic cell comprises three coupled enzymatic reactions, which propagate across three separate compartments in a specific direction due to size-selective membranes pores. Not only does microfluidics provide a high degree of control over the intra-vesicular conditions such as enzyme concentrations, buffers, and the number of inner compartments, but the monodispersity of our synthetic cells allows us to directly compare the effects that compartmentalization has on the biochemical reaction rates and product yields. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of microfluidics for the bottom-up assembly of synthetic cells, and paves the way for novel biotechnologies in areas such as compound production, sensing, and drug delivery.

A Microfluidics-based Approach to Tackle Bone Tumors: Towards New Materials for Bone Metastases
Gabriela Graziani, Assistant Professor, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Tumor relapse after surgical excision of bone metastases poses a key unmet challenge in orthopedic oncology due to its high incidence rate and potentially fatal outcome. Even in advanced cancer state, patients undergo treatment with bone substitutes/implants, to fill gaps resulting from excision surgery. In this groundbreaking study, we propose novel antitumor metal-based coatings to functionalize implanted devices and prevent tumor relapses. For their design and validation, we use a microfluidic-based approach, where chips are designed to select the optimal concentration of metal. To achieve this, we designed and realized a gradient generator microfluidic device, to be used for both tumor (breast cancer cells that metastasize in bone, MDA-MB-231) and healthy cells (mesenchymal stem cells, MSCs). This enables the detection of the optimal concentration for antitumor efficacy while avoiding cytotoxicity. In the chip, cell chambers are designed for cell seeding in a medium (2D configuration) and in a biomimetic gel (3D configuration) for pre-screening and validation, respectively. Coatings, manufactured by Ionized Jet Deposition, are dissolved in a simulated medium to obtain the solution to inject in the device. Cell viability, proliferation and migration are measured by calcein staining and fluorescence microscopy analyses in 6 parallel columns of chambers, each receiving a different dilution of the active compound. Three chambers per column allow for obtaining replicates simultaneously. Results demonstrate that the gradient generator microfluidic can detect the effect of different concentrations of the eluates on cells viability, migration and proliferation, with the latter parameters significantly more affected by metals. Hence, by merging results on MSCs and MDA, the device enables a fine selection of the metal concentration to be used. Cellularised biomimetic gels (collagen and Matrigel based) can be injected into the chambers without creating defects or hampering cell visualization. This new approach appears promising for the design of coatings, and can be easily  transferred to validate different biomaterials.

Mid-Afternoon Coffee Break and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

Discussion with Professor Malmstadt on Emerging Themes and Topics in Microfluidics

Networking Reception with Dutch Beer - Network and Engage with Colleagues in a Social Setting

Close of Day 1 of the Conference

Morning Coffee and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

ML-Assisted in situ monitoring of Flow Reactions for Sustainable Solvent Design
Noah Malmstadt, Professor, Mork Family Dept. of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Southern California, United States of America

The transition to a sustainable chemical manufacturing infrastructure requires a new approach to solvents: solvent waste must be recycled to reactor feed, closing the material cycle. Ionic liquid (IL) solvents represent a special class of low-volatility, generally safe solvents that are particularly easy to recycle. Recent work from our lab has demonstrated that automated millifluidic flow chemistry routes to IL recycling can reduce their total process cost to the point where they are competitive with traditional volatile organic solvents.

This talk discusses an exemplary application of IL solvents: the fabrication of colloidal catalyst nanoparticles (NPs). While the capacity to produce metallic NPs in ILs has been known for decades, we know little about the mechanism of these reactions and, in particular, how solvent choice can guide this mechanism. To discover the mechanism of Pt NP fabrication in ILs, we have constructed a flow reactor with in-line spectrophotometric monitoring of the products. To determine reaction component concentration from the complex spectral data, we have implemented a machine learning (ML) algorithm that can determine concentration. By measuring product concentration as a function of residence time, we are able to determine the IL solvent-dependent reaction kinetics.

Dilase 3D: Combining Very High Resolution and Large Size Fabrication Capability
Pierre Blanchet, R&D Equipment Manager, Kloé

Over the last 15 years, Kloé company developed a complete range of equipment dedicated to UV lithography applications, in perfect agreement with the microfabrication requirements in Microfluidics. Thus, Kloé company did the bet, in the early 2000, that the development of researches and industry in Microfluidics would rapidly grow. So that, over the same time, Kloé company continuously followed and exchanged with the Microfluidics community to first well understand and then anticipate its needs in terms of microfabrication techniques and performance, in order to enable fabricating from simple to more demanding microfluidic chips like Lab on a Chip / Organ on a Chip. Among a very large range of 12 different machines, covering from soft lithography / masking systems to very high resolution direct laser writers particularly suitable for fast prototyping, high aspect ratio as well as thick layers laser processing, Kloe introduces one of its latest innovations that is Dilase3D : a 3D-Printer specifically developed to meet the expectations for 3D-printing in Microfluidics. Typically elaborated from the specifications of researches in Microfluidics and Medical Sciences, that were looking for one tool enabling to both fabricate large volume pieces, but still with very high-resolution patterning capabilities, this equipment also demonstrated more recently its capability to combine different materials for the fabrication of one piece/object, that multiplies its capabilities to fabricate very demanding and ever more complex microchips/microstructures. This way, we ensure our partners to benefit from the one of the most performing and cost-effective 3D-printing solutions in that domain, in agreement with their expected level of performance and their available budget.

The Development and Use of 3D Printed Reactors in Flow and Photoflow Chemistry and the Collaborative Photoflow System – the Proteus Aether
Stephen Hilton, Associate Professor, University College London School of Pharmacy, United Kingdom

In this talk we will describe our research into 3D printing and our research into the applications of various 3D printed reactors in flow chemistry, flow electrochemistry and flow photochemistry. We will also describe research from other groups into their use across a range of chemistry examples, demonstrating how the use of these low-cost reactors can make flow chemistry more accessible and reduce the barrier to entry for chemists in this key technology. As part of our research into 3D printing, we will also describe our research  into the Proteus Aether – a low cost 3D printed continuous flow system designed to make photoflow chemistry more accessible and accurate, with digital telemetry and its use by others.

Mid-Morning Coffee Break and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

In-Flow Screening of Immobilized Photocatalysts in 3D Printed Microreactors
Anca Roibu, Postdoctoral Fellow, Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania

Flow microreactors are promising devices for screening photocatalyst activity due to reaction times in the range of minutes compared to several hours in conventional photoreactors and the ease of connection to inline analytical techniques. A microfluidic platform which consists of parallel microreactors and a rotating multi-wavelength LED light source was developed and its operation was automated. The microreactors were manufactured by 3D printing, the photocatalysts were immobilized as thin films, and the photocatalytic activity was investigated by applying successively various illumination conditions. The microfluidic platform was used for screening the activity of TiO2-based photocatalysts for degrading organic pollutants (e.g. imidacloprid, phenol).

ASIGA Advancing 3D Printed Microfluidics
Stephan Weiß, Global Technology Manager, ASIGA

ASIGA is a leader in reliable and precise DLP 3D Printers. In this talk we will show you how to leverage our open material system and voxel-level control over all parameters in our 3D printers to create cutting edge Microfluidic Chips.

Can Microfluidics be Truly User-Friendly?
Camila Betterelli Giuliano, Microfluidics Innovation Specialist, Microfluidics Innovation Center

Microfluidics is said to become the backbone of the bio-revolution. Yet, the highest reported barrier to adoption of the technology is its complex usability. Let’s be honest, biology is already complex enough. So, how can we expect researchers to harvest the microfluidic power of new in vitro models if they don’t have the headspace to assemble Lego-like setups? Enough with the meters of tubing and million connectors, come see how design is meeting science.

A User-Centric Odyssey into Cutting-Edge Technique
Victor Morel Cahoreau, Head of Sales, Eden Microfluidics

Eden Tech is a French company providing microfluidics solutions at each process step. In this talk, we will overview how to make microfluidic easier and faster.

Networking Buffet Lunch in the Exhibit Hall -- Networking with Colleagues, Engage with Exhibitors, View Posters