• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.844-849
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• 2008

We present a novel cell deformability monitoring chip based on the digitally measured cell lysis rate which is dependent on the areal strain of the cell membrane. This method offers simple cell deformability monitoring by automated high-throughput testing system. We suggest the filter design considering the areal strain imposed on the cell membrane passing through the filter array having gradually increased orifice length. In the experiment using erythrocytes, we characterized the cell deformability in terms of average fracture areal strain which was $0.24{\pm}0.014\;and\;0.21{\pm}0.002$ for normal and chemically treated erythrocytes, respectively. We also verified that the areal strain of 0.15 effectively discriminates the deformability difference of normal and chemically treated erythrocytes, which can be applied to the clinical situation. We compared the lysis rates and their difference for the samples from different donors and found that the present chips can be commonly used without any calibration process. The experimental results demonstrate the simple structure and high performance of the present cell deformability monitoring chips, applicable to simple and cost-effective cell aging process monitoring.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.831-835
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• 2008

We present a continuous electrical cell lysis chip, using a DC bias voltage to generate the focused high electric field for cell lysis as well as the electroosmotic flow for cell transport. The previous cell lysis chips apply an AC voltage between micro-gap electrodes for cell lysis and use pumps or valves for cell transport. The present DC chip generates high electrical field by reducing the width of the channel between a DC electrode pair, while the previous AC chips reducing the gap between an AC electrode pair. The present chip performs continuous cell pumping without using additional flow source, while the previous chips need additional pumps or valves for the discontinuous cell loading and unloading in the lysis chambers. The experimental study features an orifice whose width and length is 20 times narrower and 175 times shorter than the width and length of a microchannel. With an operational voltage of 50 V, the present chip generates high electric field strength of 1.2 kV/cm at the orifice to disrupt cells with 100% lysis rate of Red Blood Cells and low electric field strength of 60 V/cm at the microchannel to generate an electroosmotic flow of $30{\mu}m/s{\pm}9{\mu}m/s$. In conclusion, the present chip is capable of continuous self-pumping cell lysis at a low voltage; thus, it is suitable for a sample pretreatment component of a micro total analysis system or lab-on-a-chip.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.441-452
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• 2020

In vivo animal models are limited in their ability to mimic the extremely complex systems of the human body, and there is increasing disquiet about the ethics of animal research. Many authorities in different geographical areas are considering implementing a ban on animal testing, including testing for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Therefore, there is a need for research into systems that can replicate the responses of laboratory animals and simulate environments similar to the human body in a laboratory. An in vitro two-dimensional cell culture model is widely used, because such a system is relatively inexpensive, easy to implement, and can gather considerable amounts of reference data. However, these models lack a real physiological extracellular environment. Recent advances in stem cell biology, tissue engineering, and microfabrication techniques have facilitated the development of various 3D cell culture models. These include multicellular spheroids, organoids, and organs-on-chips, each of which has its own advantages and limitations. Organoids are organ-specific cell clusters created by aggregating cells derived from pluripotent, adult, and cancer stem cells. Patient-derived organoids can be used as models of human disease in a culture dish. Biomimetic organ chips are models that replicate the physiological and mechanical functions of human organs. Many organoids and organ-on-a-chips have been developed for drug screening and testing, so competition for patents between countries is also intensifying. We analyzed the scientific and technological trends underlying these cutting-edge models, which are developed for use as non-animal models for testing safety and efficacy at the nonclinical stages of drug development.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.257-266
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• 2014

The semiconductor manufacturing industry is managed by a number of parameters from the FAB which is the initial step of production to package test which is the final step of production. Various methods for prediction for the quality and yield are required to reduce the production costs caused by a complicated manufacturing process. In order to increase the accuracy of quality prediction, we have to extract the significant features from the large amount of data. In this study, we propose the method for extracting feature from the cell level data of probe test process using OPTICS which is one of the density-based clustering to improve the prediction accuracy of the quality of the assembled chips that will be placed in a package test. Two features extracted by using OPTICS are used as input variables of quality prediction model because of having position information of the cell defect. The package test progress for chips classified to the correct quality grade by performing the improved prediction method is expected to bring the effect of reducing production costs.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.63 no.12
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• pp.1671-1674
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• 2014

This paper presents a frequency-dependent cell impedance analysis chip for use in cancer and normal cell discrimination. The previous cell impedance analysis chips for flowing cells cannot allow enough time for cell-to-electrode contact to monitor frequency-dependent impedance response. Another type of the previous cell impedance analysis chips for the cells clamped by membranes need complex sample control for making stable cell-to-electrode contact. We present a new impedance analysis chip using the microchamber array, on which a PDMS cover is placed to make stable cell-to-electrode contact for the individual cell trapped in each microchamber; thus achieving frequency-dependent single-cell impedance analysis without complex sample control. Compared to the normal cells, the magnitude of NHBE cells is $60.07{\sim}97.41k{\Omega}$ higher than A549 cells in the frequency range of 95.6 kHz~2MHz and the phase of NHBE is $3.96^{\circ}{\sim}20.8^{\circ}$ higher than A549 cells in the frequency range of 4.37 kHz~2MHz, respectively. It is demonstrated experimentally that the impedance analysis chip performs frequency-dependent cell impedance analysis by making stable cell-to-electrode contact with simple sample control; thereby applicable to the normal cell and cancer cell discrimination.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.337-344
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• 2003

In this paper, we introduce a fully synthesizable 32-bit embedded microprocessor core called the AE32000B. The AE32000B core is based on the extendable instruction set computer architecture, so it has high code density and a low memory access rate. In order to improve the performance of the core, we developed and adopted various design options, including the load extension register instruction (LERI) folding unit, a high performance multiply and accumulate (MAC) unit, various DSP units, and an efficient coprocessor interface. The instructions per cycle count of the Dhrystone 2.1 benchmark for the designed core is about 0.86. We verified the synthesizability and the area and time performances of our design using two CMOS standard cell libraries: a 0.35-${\mu}m$ library and a 0.18-${\mu}m$ library. With the 0.35-${\mu}m$ library, the core can be synthesized with about 47,000 gates and operate at 70 MHz or higher, while it can be synthesized with about 53,000 gates and operate at 120 MHz or higher with the 0.18-${\mu}m$ library.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.82-89
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• 2003

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.879-894
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• 2016

In micro-fluid systems, fluids are injected into extremely narrow polymer channels in small amounts such as micro-, nano-, or pico-liter scales. These channels themselves are embedded on tiny chips. Various specialized structures in the chips including pumps, valves, and channels allow the chips to accept different types of fluids to be entered the channel and along with flowing through the channels, exert their effects in the framework of different reactions. The chips are generally crystal, silicon, or elastomer in texture. These highly organized structures are equipped with discharging channels through which products as well as wastes of the reactions are secreted out. A particular advantage regarding the use of fluids in micro-scales over macro-scales lies in the fact that these fluids are much better processed in the chips when they applied as micro-scales. When the laboratory is miniaturized as a microchip and solutions are injected on a micro-scale, this combination makes a specialized construction referred to as "lab-on-chip". Taken together, micro-fluids are among the novel technologies which further than declining the costs; enhancing the test repeatability, sensitivity, accuracy, and speed; are emerged as widespread technology in laboratory diagnosis. They can be utilized for monitoring a wide spectrum of biological disorders including different types of cancers. When these microchips are used for cancer monitoring, circulatory tumor cells play a fundamental role.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8409-8411
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• 2014

Purpose: To assess the value of multi-tumor marker protein chips in the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer. Materials and Methods: Twelve tumor markers (CA19-9, NSE, CEA, CA242, CK19, ${\beta}$-HCG, AFP, SCC, c-PSA, CA125, CA724 and CA15-3) were detected by protein biochip in 220 patients with ovarian carcinomas, 205 with benign ovarian tumors and 200 healthy subjects. Results: The positivity rate was obviously higher in ovarian cancer (77.7%), than that in the benign cases (26.3%, p<0.01) and healthy subjects (4.5%, p<0.01). Serum levels of tumor markers were furthermore significantly higher in cases with lymph node metastasis (86.8%) than those without metastasis (44.7%), p<0.01. Conclusions: Multi-tumor marker protein chips provide important assistance in the diagnosis and treatment evaluation in ovarian cancers.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics C
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• v.34C no.10
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• pp.1-7
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• 1997

This paper proposes a new real-time 2-D convolver filter architecture wihtout using any multiplier. To meet the massive amount of computations for real-time image processing, several commercial 2-D convolver chips have many multipliers occupying large VLSI area. Te proposed architecture using only one shift-and-accumulator can reduce the chip size by more than 70% of commercial 2-D convolver filter chips and can meet the real-time image processing srequirement, i.e., the standard of CCIR601. In addition, the proposed chip can be used for not only 2-D image processing but also 1-D signal processing and has bood scalability for higher speed applications. We have simulated the architecture by using VHDL models and have performed logic synthesis. We used the samsung SOG cell library (KG60K) and verified completely function and timing simulations. The implemented filter chip consists of only 3,893 gates, operates at 125 MHz and can meet the real-time image processing requirement, that is, 720*480 pixels per frame and 30 frames per second (10.4 mpixels/second).