Lab-on-a-Chip and Microfluidics: Companies, Technologies and Commercialization "Track B" Agenda

Conference Registration and Materials Pick-Up

Coffee Break and Networking

Networking Reception in the Exhibit Hall with Beer, Wine and Dinner. Meet the Exhibitors and Network with Your Colleagues

Close of Day 1 of the Conference.

Tuesday, 2 October 2018 -- Full Morning in Concurrent Lab-on-a-Chip and Microfluidics "Track A"

MEMS & Microfluidic Commercialization by IMT Microtechnologies
Alexios Tzannis, Business Development Manager Life Sciences, IMT Microtechnologies

Microfluidics, or lab-on-a-chip technology, is a powerful tool positioned in the intersection of biotechnology, automation, and functional integration. Microfluidic devices can shuttle picoliter, and smaller, volumes of fluids into functional regions, enabling powerful in vitro diagnostics (IVD) harnessing everything from digital biology, to next generation sequencing, organs-on-a-chip, high-throughput cell-based assays, or high-density multifunctional chips for drug discovery and bioanalysis, while shrinking sample and reagent volumes. The overall complexity can be addressed by transferring MEMS production schemes and equipment into the field of microfluidics. Thanks to advances in laser machining, photolithography, etching automation, wafer bonding, functionalization, room temperature UV-adhesive bonding and other process improvements, glass and glass-hybrid materials are often both the best-performing and most cost-effective consumable material for Life Science and Diagnostics devices. Here IMT offers leading edge technologies with automated and standardized processes. In this paper we discuss the challenges and solutions of implementing WLP processes for products.

Precise Contactless Spotting for Lab-on-Chip Applications
Wilhelm Meyer, Managing Director, Microdrop Technologies GmbH

Lab-on-chip devices are used for a wide variety of health care applications, especially in the area of point-of-care diagnostics. These small microfluidic devices equipped with microchannels, chambers and other features carry out diagnostic tests by enabling reactions between patient samples and reagents. The devices deliver test results with very small sample volumes and in a short period of time. For production of lab-on-chip devices a precise and fast material deposition method is needed. Typically, the devices are produced at high numbers under high throughput conditions. The substrates may be made of different materials e.g. polystyrene or silicone, but in common is that these substrates typically have a structured surface which may consist of channels, mixing chambers or even wells which are used for precise detection. Also, different coating materials may be used as pretreatment for better adhesion of reagents or confinement of fluids. Deposition or Spotting of reagents onto the chip is a demanding task and requires the filling of small cavities and microchannels with a high accuracy. This can efficiently be done with a microspotting platform based on in inkjet technology. The flexibility of this technology allows for custom-made solutions adapted to the specific customer needs. Especially how high accuracy concerning volume of spotted reagents and also precision of placement is achieved under high throughput production conditions is demonstrated by examples.

Developing Novel Bioinstrumentation for Clinically-Relevant Diagnostics
Barbara Smith, Assistant Professor, School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, United States of America

Translational diagnostics has gained considerable interest over the past decades due, in great part, to the wide range of potential applications through clinical, personalized, and research approaches. Failure of current technologies to provide real-time feedback and clinical screening does not stem from either a lack of medical interest or importance; rather, it is sourced in three major difficulties: i) miniaturization of technology for use in vivo, and ii) ease of use, and iii) cost of the exam. This presentation will introduce our recent work integrating photoacoustics and ultrasound technologies for the development of new tools for non-invasive diagnostics. The overarching goal is to translate technologies developed in the lab for improved patient outcomes.

Coffee Break and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

Integrating Optical Detection Technology into Microfluidic Consumables
John Town, SVP Technology, TECHNICOLOR PRECISION BIODEVICES

Technicolor brings over 100 years of technical innovation across a broad range of disciplines to the microfluidic consumable manufacturing space with both a global manufacturing infrastructure and world class Research Laboratories. This presentation provides a review of Technicolor’s advanced microfluidic consumable fabrication techniques and features a case study of the development of an operating microfluidic consumable demonstrating the integration of micro-optics into a microfluidic consumable to aid, enhance and simplify detection techniques.

HP Inkjet Microfluidics for Life Sciences Research
Ken Ward, Applications Director, HP, Inc.

Digital dispensing has now been available to improve dose-response research for several years.  HP would now like to make this accessible to a wider range of researchers.  Furthermore, bringing dispense capability beyond well plates to spatially resolved patterning also provides greater utility.  These examples and more will be illustrated with customer data in this presentation.

Perspectives on Developing a POC Diagnostic For Global Health
Amy Adelberger, Founder and CEO, Global Impact Advisors, United States of America

The aim of the panel is to discuss the challenges and opportunities in developing POC Dx for global health applications. This will be a panel discussion. Our panelists will share their perspectives on what it takes to succeed or fail developing POC diagnostics for global health applications as well as insights about funding global health POC diagnostics.

Do We Need a GAVI For Diagnostics in the Developing World?
Jim Gallarda, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, United States of America

Silos are the chief impediment to progress in global health. Technology innovation is needed, but not sufficient to achieve impact. Adopting an “end-to-end” strategy requires deep knowledge and connectiveness among supply, demand, and facilitating stakeholders. GAVI, The Vaccine Alliance, provides a model that might work for diagnostics.

Point-of-Care Pathogen Diagnostics for the Developed and Developing Worlds
Paul Yager, Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington and CSO, UbiDX, Inc., United States of America

Perspectives on Developing a POC Diagnostic for Global Health
Charles Daitch, CEO, Akonni Biosystems Inc., United States of America

The aim of the panel is to discuss the challenges and opportunities in developing POC Dx for global health applications. This will be a panel discussion. Our panelists will share their perspectives on what it takes to succeed or fail developing POC diagnostics for global health applications as well as insights about funding global health POC diagnostics.

Networking Reception in the Exhibit Hall with Beer and Wine. Meet the Exhibitors and Network with Your Colleagues

HP Free Workshop Entitled "Deep Dive -- HP Inkjet Chips for New Research Applications"

Close of Day 2 of the Conference.

Morning Coffee and Breakfast Pastries in the Exhibit Hall

Precigenome Pressure and Flow Controller and its Applications
Chen Li, Vice President of R&D, Precigenome LLC

We will present a multiple channel (4 or 8 channels) pressure and flow controller based on our proprietary technology. This portable controller can provide pulseless accurate pressure and vacuum (<0.1% of set value) in a fast response time (<2s) without outside pressure and vacuum source. The controller can also connect to flow sensors (optional feature) and use feedback loop to monitor flow rates and control pressures to obtain constant flow rates. The controller has many applications on microfluidic field. One of applications is to generate micro droplets in microfluidic chips. We developed a droplet generator based on our pressure control technology. In this presentation, we will also present several applications co-developed with our customers using our droplet generators, such as sample preparation for next generation sequencing and rare cancer cell detection.

Microfluidic Volume Manufacturing on Leading-Edge Imprint and Bonding Equipment
Bernd Dielacher, Business Development Manager, EV Group (EVG)

EV Group is a world leader in wafer-processing solutions for semiconductor, MEMS and nanotechnology applications as well as holds a dominant position in nanoimprint lithography for the photonic and biotechnology market.

This talk will focus on Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL) as a powerful high-volume manufacturing technique that is able to fabricate the most complex and smallest structures and thus is ideally suited for the production of next-generation microfluidic devices. Different NIL technologies such as hot-embossing and UV-NIL with respect to microfluidic device fabrication will be reviewed. The presentation will also discuss microfluidic bonding solutions that are well-aligned with NIL structuring technologies and allow for full high-volume process integration.

Low-Concentration Samples: The Next Diagnostic Frontier
Richard Chasen Spero, CEO, Redbud Labs

New platforms for molecular analysis have ushered in a golden era of biomarker discovery and diagnostic development. Looking ahead, the greatest diagnostic challenges have a common thread: the analyte is present in extremely low concentration. We discuss novel methods for improving limit of detection in analyte-limited samples.

Mix and Match: Manufacturing Multimaterial for Lab-on-a-Chip Devices
Holger Becker, Chief Scientific Officer, Microfluidic ChipShop GmbH

Highly integrated microfluidic devices usually consist out of components made out of different materials such as thermoplastic polymers for the cartridge body, membranes and filters, blister pouches for liquid reagents and/or silicon dies for sensors. The presentation will discuss challenges and solutions for developing and manufacturing of such multimaterial cartridges.

Modeling and Simulation of Microfluidic Devices
Matthew Hancock, Managing Engineer, Veryst Engineering, LLC

Modeling and simulation are key components of the engineering development process, providing a rational, systematic method to engineer and optimize products and dramatically accelerate the development cycle over a pure intuition-driven, empirical testing approach. Modeling and simulation help to identify key parameters related to product performance (“what to try”) as well as insignificant parameters or conditions related to poor outcomes (“what not to try”). For microfluidic devices, modeling and simulation can inform the design and integration of common components such as mixers, micropumps, manifolds, and channel networks. Modeling and simulation may also be used to estimate a range of processes occurring within the fluid bulk and near cells, including shear stresses, transport of nutrients and waste, chemical reactions, heat transfer, and surface tension & wetting effects. I will discuss how an array of modeling tools such as scaling arguments, analytical formulas, and finite element simulations may be leveraged to address these microfluidic device development issues. I will also work through a few examples in detail.

Coffee Break and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

Engineered Microfluidic Components for System Integration: Case Studies and Lessons learned
Leanna Levine, Founder & CEO, ALine, Inc.

Moving quickly from a design to a working benchtop system allows product developers to optimize the analytical triad in microfluidic product development: Cartridge + Instrument + Reagent workflow. In this presentation we provide an overview of our strategies for multi-step assay implementation in a microfluidic platform within 12 weeks, using examples from case studies and highlighting the key lessons learned during the development program.

Minimizing Experimental Variability in Microfluidics: Attaining Robustness, Reproducibility and Reliability
Thomas Corso, Chief Technical Officer, CorSolutions

Non-Contact, Low Volume Dispensing Solutions for the Biosensor Industry
Chris Fronczek, Director of Applications, BIODOT, Inc.

Low Volume Dispensing Solutions for the Biosensor Industry

Networking Lunch in the Exhibit Hall -- Meet the Exhibitors and View Posters

Luncheon Technology Spotlight: Scalability of Microfluidic Cartridge Design
Mark Kinder, President, Plastic Design Corporation

When starting on a new microfluidic design, there are several stages of prototyping and design validation.  In early stages, with tight budgets, non-scalable manufacturing techniques are often used to manage development budgets.  Too often, when the design proves successful, it must be scraped or radically changed to allow a cost effective product moving forward.  Or worse, a poor design from a DFM perspective is forced into production with high scrap rates.  This presentation will look at:

1. When to incorporate DFM (Design for Manufacturability)
2. What is Design for Manufactuability
3. What resources are available to help, software, suppliers
4. How to identify eventual production requirements
5. How to create a strategy to match your budget

Molecular Surface Engineering of Bio-Compatible Coatings
Jeff Chinn, Chief Technical Officer, Integrated Surface Technologies

Surface engineering techniques through to use of specialized molecular chemistries can be used to develop or mitigate a wide range of functional properties, including physical, chemical, fluid flow, electrical, and corrosion-resistant properties. Almost all types of materials including metals, semiconductors, ceramics, polymers, and composites can be coated with molecular films to alter their surface states. Common surface engineered properties of interest often include: control of surface energies (hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, anti-fouling), chemical grafting (functional groups –NH2, -OH, -COOH, -SH2, etc.), molecular level cleaning, surface activation, adhesion promotions (chemical activation for bonding, immobilizing DNA) and preservation (corrosion inhibitors, moisture barriers). These nano-scaled films can be engineered into many unique bio-compatible coatings. In this talk, we will review the basics of molecular coatings that are commonly used and a technique to applied and to control of surface properties for applications like micro-fluidics, genomics, PCR and others.

Point of Care: Coping with Complexity
Jim Sirkis, Chief Technology Officer, IDEX Health & Science

Complexity, manufacturability and cost converge in applications that require sample-to-answer solutions.  Dr. Jim Sirkis, CTO of IDEX Health & Science, will present on the critical factors and focus affecting complex microfluidic consumables.  Dr. Sirkis oversees global technology development for IDEX Health & Science, including the recent integration of thinXXS Microtechnology.   Combined together, IH&S now offers the largest and most comprehensive microfluidics portfolio optimizing the Optofluidic pathway. Dr. Sirkis will review the interdependencies between low cost precision molding, reagent management, fluid handling, assay detection and the importance of informed, systems-based decision making when designing a successful consumable platform.

Influences on Vapor Phase Amino Silane Coatings
Ken Sautter, Director of Technology Development, Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.

Vapor phase coating is increasingly important to creating repeatable, thin, uniform interface layers between inorganic substrates and bio materials. Of the hundreds of silane materials available, amino silanes are the most common materials coated for biologic applications.  This paper will explore coating conditions which affect density and stability of the amino silane coating including temperature, pressure and humidity.

A Unique Collaboration For Rapid Prototyping Injection Molded Microfluidic Devices
Markus Ebster, Vice President Sales & Marketing, z-microsystems®

z-microsystems is located in Austria and Canada specializing in micro-injection moldmaking and injection molding of microfluidic devices with over 15 years experience in the industry. Their unique core competence is how to help design a microfluidic device that is injection moldable, prototype it, manufacture the micro-injection molds in-house, transition into a pre-production/pilot phase before taking the process into full mass production under stringent clean room conditions. Following several years of study and establishing a strong relationship with the University of Toronto, they identified the need to replace PDMS chip manufacture with a faster, better quality, more repeatable and cost effective method, to rapid prototype new microfluidic device designs. Collaborating with the university, z-microsystems Canadian office was eligible for federal funding and started a unique development project in November 2015. The development combines the universities know-how in their Centre for Microfluidics Systems with z-microsystems injection molding experience, to deliver a viable and value-added alternative to rapid prototype new microfluidic devices.

Afternoon Coffee Break

Single Cell Array Printing Technique and Its Application for Cancer Migration
Shengli Mi, Associate Professor, Biomanufacturing Engineering Laboratory, Tsinghua University-Shenzhen, China

Single-cell arrays are powerful tools for many biological processes such as cellular behavioral analysis, cancer development, cell-cell communications, and drug screening and metabolism. Based on the Alternating Viscous-Inertial Force Jetting, we present a novel single-cell printing technique for the construction of single-cell arrays on microfluidic chips. First of all, this work accomplished the construction of single-cell printing platform and parameters optimization. Then a pattern microfluidic device matched with single-cell array was proposed to verify the pattern control capability of the single-cell printing platform and the effectiveness of the printing process. Finally our work come up with another microfluidic chip which had hundreds of micro-reactors and studied the migration ability and high-throughput anti-cancer drug responses of cancer cell as an important application.

Hydrodynamic Flow Confinements: From Surface Biopatterning to Tissue Section Profiling
Iago Pereiro, Researcher, IBM Research – Zurich, Switzerland

In contrast to standard microfluidics, which are typically closed, we are developing a scanning, non-contact microfluidic technology that can shape liquids in the "open space" over surfaces. This technology utilizes a microfluidic probe (MFP) having microfabricated structures for localizing a liquid of interest on a surface using hydrodynamic flow confinement. MFP permits patterning surfaces with proteins and other biomolecules in an additive and subtractive manner, forming complex gradients on surfaces, and interacting with cells on surfaces. Flow confinement and efficient use of chemicals can be further optimized using a concept called "hierarchical" hydrodynamic flow confinement. I will show how the interplay between diffusion, advection and surface chemistry can overcome limitations of existing biopatterning technologies. I will also propose concepts pertaining to tissue microprocessing encompassing local phenotyping for interrogating tumor heterogeneity and spatially resolved molecular profiling which may contribute to the multi-modal analysis of critical biopsy samples in the context of next-generation pathology.

High-throughput Production and Shrinkage of Microbubbles for use as Ultrasound Contrast Agents
Jiang Xu, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ryerson University, Canada

Highly monodispersed microbubbles at high through-put are generated and subsequently further reduced in size using a vacuum shrinkage mechanism coupled with microfluidics.

Development of a Lab-on-a-Chip For Proteomics
Menel Ben Frej, Engineer, Chimie ParisTech - Université Paris Descartes, France

A microfluidic device was designed and developed for the isoelectric focusing, digestion and detection of proteins. A hybrid lab-on-a-chip made of glass-NOA-glass coupled to Mass spectrometry was set-up for this purpose.

Development of a Lab-on-a-Chip For the Analysis and the Recycling of Strategic Metals
Jérémie Gouyon, Researcher, Chimie ParisTech - Université Paris Descartes, France

A microfluidic device was designed and developed for the analysis and recycling of strategic metals. A hybrid lab-on-a-chip made of glass-NOA-glass coupled to an amperometric detector was set-up for the separation, detection and recovery of palladium and platinum.

Development of an Aptamer-based Microfluidic System For the Multi-Detection of Cancer Biomarkers
Samantha Bourg, Researcher, Chimie ParisTech - Université Paris Descartes, France

This study aims at developing a LOAC to achieve automation and high-thoughput screening for cancer prevention and early diagnosis. Focus will be given to the development of an aptamer-based molecular recognition strategy for the dynamic capture and concentration of biomarkers.

Controlled Deflection of Diamagnetic Biocompatible Aqueous Droplets
Stephanie Buryk-Iggers, Researcher, Ryerson University, Canada

We present a microfluidic platform that is capable of controlled diamagnetic droplet displacement.  In this method, monodisperse aqueous droplets are produced in a continuous phase of hydrophobic ferrofluid. Both phases are exposed to magnetic field.  Precise deflection of the aqueous droplets is then achieved in a single step by adjusting the flow-rate of the disperse phase.

Close of Conference.