This is just an update for the experiments Tejas and I have been working on for the past two weeks: First, we tried incorporating 20 μl of Geltrex (10 mg/ml, diluted with DMEM from stock concentration: i.e. 15.6 mg/ml) in the back of a non-porous chip with 0.02 μm blue fluorescent nano-spheres (1:10 dilution from stock concentration)….
Bob and I have been busy for the last couple of weeks going through the fabrication process with the hopes of SiO2 membrane liftoff. The fabrication process was similar to the silicon nitride membrane liftoff. The process is shown in the figure below. In the beginning, we started with 9 wafers that had thermal oxide…
While serving on an NSF MRI (Major Research Instrumentation program) review panel today the director shared his analysis of funding probabilities as a function of score. The analysis was only done for the Directorate of Math and Physical Sciences, but I bet it is a good rule of thumb throughout NSF. I sketched his power…
For the past month, I have been working along with Tejas towards incorporating an ECM-like hydrogel into the back (edged side) of a pnc-Si chip. The purpose of this effort is to add another layer of complexity to Tejas’ in vitro microvasculature system, in order to study neutrophil migration across the endothelium. We first pondered…
Testing was performed on 3D-printed transwell device prototypes for use as culture devices with SEPCON chip integration(Makerbot2 printed Transwells for SEPCON chips). The performed testing attempted to determine the quality of seal of interfaces between all device components. The two devices tested were identical in basket geometry, with the only differences being in printing material….
Yaron has acquired an Omega rotameter (FL-3803ST) with interchangeable flow tubes. The tubes operate in three different ranges low (6-61 mL/min, 042-15-N), medium (150-1,682 mL/min, 082-03-N), and High (1,000-23,752 mL/min, 034-39-N). I’ve attached an excel file with the calibration data plotted. We fit the curves with polynomial trendline to get equations. Also in the workbook…
In Nottingham this summer, I attempted to use a Makerbot2 printer to create culture devices for SEPCON chips. I had varying degrees of success, but I was not able to get a good seal between the PLA and gaskets using only machined grooves. This would have limited our ability to do TEER and other 2-chamber…
Our previous work with reverse centrifugation NPN membranes has shown that they may work for cleaning up excess protein from conjugated NPs. This initial success used ~20 nm red fluospheres with membranes from wafer 1070 (10-15%, ~45nm) and unlabeled IgG we were given by a collaborator. In this post we are testing “newer” NPN wafers…
Submitted on April 7, 2014. Posted to NRG Cloud under NRG/Funding. Figure 2. Dead End Filtration with SEPCONTM (A) SiMPore’s SEPCONTM spin cup with a silicon nanomembrane chip. B) Dead end filtration in a centrifuge. The direction of the centrifugal force is indicated with the gravity vector g. Figure 3. Nanoporous Silicon Nitride (A) pnc-Si…
I am planning to write a proposal to the NIST Measurement Science and Engineering (MSE) Research Grant Program. Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) is here. The proposal is due in the beginning of June. From talking with a friend at RIT would has one of these presently, it sounds like the best strategy is to target an…