Preface to Special Topic: Selected Papers from the 5th International
Conference on Optofluidics |
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| Authors: | Shih-Kang Fan Zhenchuan Yang |
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| Institution: | 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan
University, Taipei, Taiwan;2Institute of Microelectronics, Peking
University, Beijing, China |
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| Abstract: | The 5th International Conference on Optofluidics (Optofluidics 2015) was held in Taipei,
Taiwan, July 26–29, 2015. The aim of this conference was to provide a forum to promote
scientific exchange and to foster closer networks and collaborative ties between leading
international researchers in optics and micro/nanofluidics across various disciplines. The
scope of Optofluidics 2015 was deliberately broad and interdisciplinary, encompassing the
latest advances and the most innovative developments in micro/nanoscale science and
technology.
Topics ranged from fundamental research to its applications in chemistry, physics,
biology, materials, and medicine.Approximately 300 delegates participated in Optofluidics 2015 from across the globe,
including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea,
Singapore, Taiwan, UK, and USA. In total, 242 presentations were arranged, including 10
plenary speeches, 27
keynote speeches, 65
invited talks, 33 contributed talks, and 107 poster presentations. This collection of twelve
papers on this special topic spans both the fundamentals and the frontier applications of this
interdisciplinary research field.Optical measurements
of particle or flow and fluidic manipulation for optical applications were presented. Lin and
Su1 reported a novel method to
measure the depth
position of rapidly moving objects inside a microfluidic channel based on the chromatic
aberration effect; the depth positions of label-free particles of diameter as small as
2 μm and erythrocytes of concentration 2 × 103
cells/μl and velocity 2.78 mm/s were detected within a range ±25
μm in a simple and inexpensive manner. Sun and Huang2 demonstrated the use of a microscopic circular polariscope to
measure the
flow-induced birefringence in a microfluidic device that represents the kinematics of fluid motion
optically; CTAB:NaSal, CPyCl:NaSal, and CPyCl:NaSal:NaCl solutions were used to investigate
the strain rate and the results were compared with the μPIV diagnosis. He et
al.3 studied the fundamentals,
especially the thinning and opening of the oil film within each pixel of an electrowetting
display; to achieve repeatable oil movement and the resulting pixel performance, a new method
to fill each pixel with a controllable oil volume using an oil-droplet emulsion created with a
microfluidic device
was demonstrated.This special topic includes papers also on particle manipulation. Weng et
al.4 evaluated the size-dependent
crossing frequency of dielectrophoretically driven particles; numerical simulation using a
Maxwell stress tensor and a finite element method was reported to assess the size effect. In
addition to electric manipulation, magnetic driving of the particles was demonstrated. Ido
et al.5 examined
microswimmers of magnetic particle chains in an oscillating magnetic field experimentally and
analyzed numerically with a lattice Boltzmann method, an immersed boundary method, and a
discrete particle method based on simplified Stokesian dynamics. Huang et
al.6 described a technique to
manipulate magnetic beads and achieved a great washing efficiency with zero bead loss using an
appropriate electrode
design and channel height of a digital microfluidic immunoassay; a model immunoassay of human
soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor I (sTNF-RI) was performed to offer an improved limit of
detection (3.14 pg/ml) with a small number of magnetic beads (25 beads), decreased reagent
volumes (200 nl), and decreased duration of analysis (<1 h). Chiu et
al.7 reported particle separation
using cross-flow filtration enhanced with hydrodynamic focusing; label-free separation of
particles of diameters 2.7 and 10.6 μm at a sample throughput
10 μl/min was performed; separation of spiked human prostate cancer cell
lines (PC3) cells in whole blood was also demonstrated.Chemical sensors and biosensors are covered in this special topic. Cheng et
al.8
measured the chemical
compounds in third-hand smoke on varied clothing fibres with an analytical balance, or
nicotine and 3-ethenylpyridine (3-EP) with a surface-acoustic-wave sensor composed of coated
oxidized hollow mesoporous carbon nanospheres. Pu et al.9 described a continuous glucose monitoring microsystem
consisting of a three-electrode electrochemical sensor in which the working electrode (WE) was covered with a
single layer of graphene and gold nanoparticles to improve the sensor performance; the results
of glucose measurement
were linear below concentration 162 mg/dl with a detection limit 1.44 mg/dl. Li et
al.10 implemented a
microfluidic device
measuring the glucose
concentration with integrated fibre-optic surface plasmon resonance sensor and electrode pairs for volume
quantification.Implantable devices
and microneedles for drug
delivery and liquid transport are addressed in this special topic. Zhang et
al.11 reported a flexible
polyimide device
seated under rabbit eyelids to deliver drug by iontophoresis; varied currents to release manganese ions
(Mn2+) as tracers were investigated; the thermal effect on application of a
current was studied. Lee et al.12 presented a disposable Parylene microneedle array of large aspect
ratio that vibrated with a piezoelectric actuator to mimic the vibrating motion of a
mosquito''s proboscis and to decrease the insertion force by 40%. Song et
al.13 demonstrated microinjection
into a model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans)
on an automated device
capable of loading, immobilization, injection, and sorting; with 200 worms studied, injection
speed 6.6 worm/min, injection success rate 77.5%, and sorting success rate 100% were
obtained.We express our gratitude for the financial support from Ministry of Science and
Technology (Taiwan),
Bureau of Foreign Trade (Taiwan), National Taiwan University and Research Center for Applied
Sciences of Academia Sinica, and for administrative support from Instrument Technology Research Center in
making Optofluidics 2015 a successful conference. Our acknowledgements include Leslie Yeo,
Frederick Kontur, Christine Urso, and all staff from Biomicrofluidics for their kind
assistance during the preparation, and, most importantly, all authors who have contributed
their work for this special topic. |
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