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Short Course
This course is an introductory overview of micro- and nanotechnologies with a focus on their applications for the life sciences.
Emphasis will be on basic fabrication technologies and their applications in engineering of micro- and nanosystems. Fundamental concepts and the vocabulary used in this interdisciplinary field will be presented. Examples of successfully implemented chip-based applications will be given, as well as trends in applications of micro- and nanofluidic technologies.
Target Audience
This is an introductory course directed to scientists and technologists in the pharmaceutical and environmental industries and in clinical laboratories, at both the R & D management and laboratory levels. Participants will be provided with a foundation that may serve as a basis for further exploration of this fascinating research area. Given the wide scope of interest these technologies have generated in the chemical, biochemical and biological fields, it is anticipated that course participants will come from a variety of different scientific backgrounds.
Microtechnology and Microfluidics
With the advent of the miniaturized total analysis systems (μTAS) concept in the late 1980s came a new paradigm for fluid handling on the sub-microliter scale. Since then, microtechnological approaches are employed to form microchannel networks in planar glass, polymers, or other substrates. Fluids are pushed from one microchannel to another to perform the various operations required for analysis, either by electrokinetic, pressure-driven, or other means of fluid propulsion. Liquid handling steps such as mixing and reagent transport have been adapted to the unique, well-defined flow phenomena of micro devices. Other functions such as optical elements and electrodes for detection or actuation can also be integrated thanks to the use of well-established microfabrication techniques. Terms like "lab-on-a-chip" and "microfluidics" reflect the fact that this liquid handling approach at the micro-scale is more and more used as a tool to achieve new performance in various fields of applications. In this course we will focus on biological analysis and cell-based applications, with cell handling, treatment and analysis.
Nanotechnology and Nanofluidics
More recently, device downscaling has reached the nanometer regime, and this in various fields such as nanochemistry, nanofabrication, nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, nanomedicine and nanofluidics. Particularly, integrated flow systems based on various materials are now found with channels less than 100 nm wide and deep, dimensions at which fluid behaviour is dominated by surface effects.This can be used in various fields of applications from life sciences to environmental such as sensing, diagnostics and the search of medical cures.
From single cell analysis towards tissue engineering on chip
Recent developments in micro- and nanotechnologies now offer unprecedented opportunities for cell-based studies, from the single cell level to a small population of cells or even to a small 3D construct or microtissue. Microfluidic chips consist of an attractive alternative to conventional culture flasks for cell applications, and the past few years have seen the development of novel miniaturized, highly controlled and high-throughput cultivation approaches as well as of new tools for handling, isolating and encapsulating cells and tissues which are subsequently cultured, eventually stimulated and analyzed on chip. Both microfluidics-based single cell and 3D culture approaches offer new opportunities for cellular studies and yield new levels of information compared to conventional large scale culture and analysis tools.
Clinically Relevant Microsystems
In the last decade there has been a tremendous interest in the application of “lab-on-a-chip” based devices for clinical diagnostics. Advantages and effects of miniaturization for developing portable diagnostics assays including nanotechnology are discussed and the concept of “label-free” detection in the context of clinically relevant assays is evaluated. The approach is to understand the interface between engineering and biology in the domain of clinically relevant diagnostics assays.
Course Instructors :
Séverine Le Gac
MESA+ Institute, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Harald van Lintel
School of Engineering, Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland
Shalini Prasad
Electrical Engineering department, Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA
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© Nanotech-Montreux, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2008