Cargando…
Low-Cost, Accessible Fabrication Methods for Microfluidics Research in Low-Resource Settings
Microfluidics are expected to revolutionize the healthcare industry especially in developing countries since it would bring portable, easy-to-use, self-contained diagnostic devices to places with limited access to healthcare. To date, however, microfluidics has not yet been able to live up to these...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2018
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6187812/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30424394 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi9090461 |
_version_ | 1783363091687276544 |
---|---|
author | Nguyen, Hoang-Tuan Thach, Ha Roy, Emmanuel Huynh, Khon Perrault, Cecile Mong-Tu |
author_facet | Nguyen, Hoang-Tuan Thach, Ha Roy, Emmanuel Huynh, Khon Perrault, Cecile Mong-Tu |
author_sort | Nguyen, Hoang-Tuan |
collection | PubMed |
description | Microfluidics are expected to revolutionize the healthcare industry especially in developing countries since it would bring portable, easy-to-use, self-contained diagnostic devices to places with limited access to healthcare. To date, however, microfluidics has not yet been able to live up to these expectations. One non-negligible factor can be attributed to inaccessible prototyping methods for researchers in low-resource settings who are unable to afford expensive equipment and/or obtain critical reagents and, therefore, unable to engage and contribute to microfluidics research. In this paper, we present methods to create microfluidic devices that reduce initial costs from hundreds of thousands of dollars to about $6000 by using readily accessible consumables and inexpensive equipment. By including the scientific community most embedded and aware of the requirements of healthcare in developing countries, microfluidics will be able to increase its reach in the research community and be better informed to provide relevant solutions to global healthcare challenges. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6187812 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-61878122018-11-01 Low-Cost, Accessible Fabrication Methods for Microfluidics Research in Low-Resource Settings Nguyen, Hoang-Tuan Thach, Ha Roy, Emmanuel Huynh, Khon Perrault, Cecile Mong-Tu Micromachines (Basel) Article Microfluidics are expected to revolutionize the healthcare industry especially in developing countries since it would bring portable, easy-to-use, self-contained diagnostic devices to places with limited access to healthcare. To date, however, microfluidics has not yet been able to live up to these expectations. One non-negligible factor can be attributed to inaccessible prototyping methods for researchers in low-resource settings who are unable to afford expensive equipment and/or obtain critical reagents and, therefore, unable to engage and contribute to microfluidics research. In this paper, we present methods to create microfluidic devices that reduce initial costs from hundreds of thousands of dollars to about $6000 by using readily accessible consumables and inexpensive equipment. By including the scientific community most embedded and aware of the requirements of healthcare in developing countries, microfluidics will be able to increase its reach in the research community and be better informed to provide relevant solutions to global healthcare challenges. MDPI 2018-09-12 /pmc/articles/PMC6187812/ /pubmed/30424394 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi9090461 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Nguyen, Hoang-Tuan Thach, Ha Roy, Emmanuel Huynh, Khon Perrault, Cecile Mong-Tu Low-Cost, Accessible Fabrication Methods for Microfluidics Research in Low-Resource Settings |
title | Low-Cost, Accessible Fabrication Methods for Microfluidics Research in Low-Resource Settings |
title_full | Low-Cost, Accessible Fabrication Methods for Microfluidics Research in Low-Resource Settings |
title_fullStr | Low-Cost, Accessible Fabrication Methods for Microfluidics Research in Low-Resource Settings |
title_full_unstemmed | Low-Cost, Accessible Fabrication Methods for Microfluidics Research in Low-Resource Settings |
title_short | Low-Cost, Accessible Fabrication Methods for Microfluidics Research in Low-Resource Settings |
title_sort | low-cost, accessible fabrication methods for microfluidics research in low-resource settings |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6187812/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30424394 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi9090461 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT nguyenhoangtuan lowcostaccessiblefabricationmethodsformicrofluidicsresearchinlowresourcesettings AT thachha lowcostaccessiblefabricationmethodsformicrofluidicsresearchinlowresourcesettings AT royemmanuel lowcostaccessiblefabricationmethodsformicrofluidicsresearchinlowresourcesettings AT huynhkhon lowcostaccessiblefabricationmethodsformicrofluidicsresearchinlowresourcesettings AT perraultcecilemongtu lowcostaccessiblefabricationmethodsformicrofluidicsresearchinlowresourcesettings |