Reversible Mechanical Contraception and Endometriosis Treatment Using Stimuli-Responsive Hydrogels.

Female sterilization via fallopian tube ligation is a common procedure; However, after the operation, over 10% of women seek re-fertilization, which is frequently unsuccessful. In addition, there is evidence that fallopian tubes contribute to the spread of endometriotic tissue as they serve as channels for proinflammatory media entering the abdominal cavity via retrograde menstruation. Here, stimuli-degradable hydrogel implants are presented for the functional, biocompatible, and reversible occlusion of fallopian tubes.

ePlatypus: an ecosystem for computational analysis of immunogenomics data.

Motivation: The maturation of systems immunology methodologies requires novel and transparent computational frameworks capable of integrating diverse data modalities in a reproducible manner.

Results: Here, we present the ePlatypus computational immunology ecosystem for immunogenomics data analysis, with a focus on adaptive immune repertoires and single-cell sequencing. ePlatypus is an open-source web-based platform and provides programming tutorials and an integrative database that helps elucidate signatures of B and T cell clonal selection.

On-chip technology for single-cell arraying, electrorotation-based analysis and selective release.

This paper reports a method for label-free single-cell biophysical analysis of multiple cells trapped in suspension by electrokinetic forces. Tri-dimensional pillar electrodes arranged along the width of a microfluidic chamber define actuators for single cell trapping and selective release by electrokinetic force. Moreover, a rotation can be induced on the cell in combination with a negative DEP force to retain the cell against the flow.

Detecting particles flowing through interdigitated 3D microelectrodes.

Counting cells in a large microchannel remains challenging and is particularly critical for in vitro assays, such as cell adhesion assays. This paper addresses this issue, by presenting the development of interdigitated three-dimensional electrodes, which are fabricated around passivated pillarshaped silicon microstructures, to detect particles in a flow. The arrays of micropillars occupy the entire channel height and detect the passage of the particle through their gaps by monitoring changes in the electrical resistance.