Luke P. Lee

It is important to quantify the distribution of behavior amongst a population of individual cells to reach a more complete quantitative understanding of cellular processes. Improved high-throughput analysis of single cell behavior requires uniform conditions for individual cells with controllable cell-cell interactions, including diffusible and contact elements. Uniform cell arrays for static culture of adherent cells have previously been constructed using protein micropatterning techniques but

This work presents the fabrication of biologically inspired artificial compound eyes. The artificial ommatidium, like that of an insect's compound eyes, consists of a refractive polymer microlens, a light-guiding polymer cone, and a self-aligned waveguide to collect light with a small angular acceptance. The ommatidia are omnidirectionally arranged along a hemispherical polymer dome such that they provide a wide field of view similar to that of a natural compound eye. The spherical configuration

We present for the first time a microfluidic cell culture array for long-term cellular monitoring. The 10 x 10 array could potentially assay 100 different cell-based experiments in parallel. The device was designed to integrate the processes used in typical cell culture experiments on a single self-contained microfluidic system. Major functions include repeated cell growth/passage cycles, reagent introduction, and real-time optical analysis. The single unit of the array consists of a circular mi

Primary hepatocytes represent a physiologically relevant model for drug toxicity screening. Here, we created a biologically inspired artificial liver sinusoid with a microfluidic endothelial-like barrier having mass transport properties similar to the liver acinus. This unit consisted of a cord of hepatocytes (50 x 30 x 500 microm) fed by diffusion of nutrients across the microfluidic endothelial-like barrier from a convective transport vessel (10 nL/min). This configuration sustained rat and hu

Despite a growing focus from the academic community, the field of microfluidics has yet to produce many commercial devices for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics. One of the main reasons for this is the difficulty in producing low-cost, sensitive, and portable optical detection systems. Although electrochemical methods work well for certain applications, optical detection is generally regarded as superior and is the method most widely employed in laboratory clinical chemistry. Conventional optical

Using lab-on-chip technology, bulky lab equipment is shrunk into a simple, portable, and quantitative microfluidic chip for DNA diagnostics.

We present a self-powered integrated microfluidic blood analysis system (SIMBAS) that does not require any external connections, tethers, or tubing to deliver and analyze a raw whole-blood sample. SIMBAS only requires the user to place a 5 μL droplet of whole-blood at the inlet port of the device, whereupon the stand-alone SIMBAS performs on-chip removal of red and white cells, without external valving or pumping mechanisms, followed by analyte detection in platelet-containing plasma. Five compl

Observing systems in nature has inspired humans to create technological tools that allow us to better understand and imitate biology. Biomimetics, in particular, owes much of its current development to advances in materials science and creative optical system designs. New investigational tools, such as those for microscopic imaging and chemical analyses, have added to our understanding of biological optics. Biologically inspired optical science has become the emerging topic among researchers and

Increasing the cell membrane's permeability can be accomplished via single cell electroporation. Polar substances that cannot otherwise permeate the plasma membrane (such as dyes, drugs, DNA, proteins, peptides, and amino acids) can thus be introduced into the cell. We developed a polymeric chip that can selectively immobilize and locally electroporate single cells. This easy-to-use chip focuses the electric field, eliminating the need to manipulate electrodes or glass pipettes. Moreover, this d

A nanoliter scale microbioreactor array was designed for multiplexed quantitative cell biology. An addressable 8 x 8 array of three nanoliter chambers was demonstrated for observing the serum response of HeLa human cancer cells in 64 parallel cultures. The individual culture unit was designed with a "C" shaped ring that effectively decoupled the central cell growth regions from the outer fluid transport channels. The chamber layout mimics physiological tissue conditions by implementing an outer

The small field‐of‐view (FOV) limits the range of vision in various detecting/imaging devices from biological microscopes to commercial cameras and military radar. To date, imaging with FOV over 90° has been realized with fish‐eye lenses, catadioptric lens, and rotating cameras. However, these devices suffer from inherent imaging distortion and require multiple bulky elements. Inspired by compound eyes found in nature, here a small‐size (84 μm), distortion‐free, wide‐FOV imaging system is presen

Endothelial dysfunction characterizes many disease states including subclinical atherosclerosis. The consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa and cocoa-based products has been shown to improve endothelial function in both compromised and otherwise normal, healthy individuals when administered either acutely or over a period of several days, or weeks. Women experience increased risk for cardiovascular disease after menopause, which can be associated with endothelial dysfunction. Whether a flavanol-rich