Dolomite in Publications

Produce nanocrystals to improve bioavailability of an antihyperglycaemic drug. Nanocrytals had a much lower IC50 than the tablet form, and higher efficacy than other drugs

Successfully enriched 1:10000 dilution of secreting yeast cells. Used 2 rounds of encapsulation of agarose (water) in oil, FACS sorting after emulsion breaking

Cyclin B1 is essential for embryo development, but its role in mitosis was unclear. In this study, large numbers of mouse embryos were cultured in a custom microfluidic chip, and imaged before recovering for genotyping. They found that Cyclin B1 is an essential regulator of the cell cycle

Showing the utility of a custom glass-stretcher chip through measuring and and sorting single cells by their mechanical properties in a heterogenous population

Precise quantification of molecular targets in a biological sample across a wide dynamic range is a key requirement in many diagnostic procedures, such as monitoring response to therapy or detection of measurable residual disease. State of the art digital PCR assays provide for a dynamic range of four orders of magnitude. However digital assays are complex and require sophisticated microfluidic tools. Here we present an assay format that enables ultra-precise quantification of RNA targets in a single measurement across a dynamic range of more than six orders of magnitude. The approach is based on hydrogel beads that provide for microfluidic free compartmentalization of the sample as they are used as nanoreactors for reverse transcription, PCR amplification and combined real time and digital detection of gene transcripts. We have applied these nanoreactor beads for establishing an assay for the detection and quantification of BCR-ABL1 fusion transcripts. The assay has been characterized for its precision and linear dynamic range. A comparison of the new method against conventional real time RT-PCR analysis (reference method) with clinical samples from patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) revealed excellent concordance with Pearsons correlation coefficient of 0.983 and slope of 1.08.

Particles synthesized from biodegradable polymers hold great potential as controlled drug delivery systems. Continuous flow platforms based on microfluidics offer attractive advantages over conventional batch-emulsification techniques for the scalable fabrication of drug-loaded particles with controlled physicochemical properties. However, widespread utilization of microfluidic technologies for the manufacturing of drug-loaded particles has been hindered largely by the lack of practical guidelines toward cost-effective development and reliable operation of microfluidic systems. Here, we present a framework for rational design and construction of microfluidic systems using commercially available components for high-throughput production of uniform biodegradable particles encapsulating drugs. We also demonstrate successful implementation of this framework to devise a robust microfluidic system that is capable of producing drug-carrying particles with desired characteristics. The guidelines provided in this study will likely help broaden the applicability of microfluidic technologies for the synthesis of high-quality, drug-loaded biodegradable particles.

Monodispersed organic phase droplets with an average diameter from 20 to 200 µm were produced at the rate of up to 20,000 droplets per second in a glass microfluidic chip composed of 7 parallel 3D flow focusing junctions with 100 µm-deep channels. The continuous phase was 2 wt% polyvinyl alcohol solution, while the dispersed phase was dichloromethane, n-dodecane, and polydimethylsiloxane 10 cSt fluid corresponding to the dispersed-to-continuous-phase viscosity ratio of 0.2, 0.8 and 6.1, respectively. Four different droplet generation regimes were observed, dripping, squeezing, jetting, and threading. The regions where each of these regimes was stable were mapped using Weber number of the dispersed phase and capillary number of the continuous phase. The transitions between the droplet formation regimes were governed by the Weber number of the dispersed phase, indicating that inertial forces in the dispersed phase were more relevant than viscous forces in controlling the transition. Stable droplet generation in dripping regime in each junction was maintained for at least 6 h. The coefficient of variation of droplet sizes from individual junctions and all junctions combined was < 3% under optimal conditions. The droplet size variations between different junctions were greater than those within each junction. Liquid plugs were produced in the squeezing regime at the dispersed-to-continuous phase flow rate ratio greater than one. This study is the first investigation of droplet generation in multiple 3D flow-focusing junctions with potential applications for the production of drug microcarriers using emulsification solvent evaporation, especially for the encapsulation and controlled delivery of lipophilic drugs.

Ammonia has potential in in-situ resource utilization for NASA space missions, as it is a high energy molecule that can be converted to nitrogen and electrical energy via the ammonia oxidation reaction. In this proof of concept, a small scale AOR setup was taken to the ISS, and achieved positive results, opening the door to future scaled-up experiments

Studying the effects of system parameters on the freezing of droplets. The study revealed important data for the formation of small spherical ice droplets