Location: DMMM – Politecnico di Bari
Lab head: Prof. Marco D. de Tullio
Contact: marcodonato.detullio@poliba.it
Lab Team
Marco D. de Tullio
Full Professor
Alessandro Nitti
Assistant Professor
Daniele Di Mascolo
Assistant Professor
Dario De Marinis
Research Assistant
Lab Mission
The laboratory aims to enhance scientific and technological knowledge and foster collaborations in the field of experimental and computational fluid dynamics in bioengineering. It is dedicated to the analysis of the fluid dynamics in complex engineering configurations, including fluid-structure interaction.
In particular, the laboratory includes facilities for: (1) high-fidelity numerical simulations of the fluid-structure interaction of cells, particles or soft-robots in microchannels in order to predict the transport/swimming performance and optimize parameters; (2) fabrication of microdevices for the accurate manipulation of flows and cells/particles at the microscale; (3) control, handling and flow visualization in real-time.
The equipment includes high performance computing tools for simulation campaigns using in-house developed codes involving fluid-structure-electrophysiology interaction and multiple bodies; microfluidic instrumentation for fabrication, controlling and handling flow and particles/cells in microdevices, with applications related to lab-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip devices, point-of-care diagnostics; a fluorescence microscope and high-speed cameras to detect the fast dynamics of soft moving/deforming structures at different scales.
Devices
Cadworks3D printer ProFluidics 285D
The Cadworks3D printer ProFluidics 285D is a high-end DLP printer with 4-million-pixel projector technology and a build size of 100x62x120mm. It employs dynamic pixel advantage which allows the printer to reliably achieve an XY pixel resolution of 28.5um.
Data sheet: link
Formlabs Form 3B+ 3D printer
The Formlabs Form 3B+ is an advanced desktop 3D printer designed for healthcare. It can rapidly print patient-specific parts at the point of care and has been validated in FDA-cleared workflows. It is also compatible with a wide range of biocompatible, sterilizable materials.
Data sheet: link
Fluorescence microscope platform for advanced imaging
The equipment is intended for flow visualization of micron-scale channels, tracking and identifying individual cells or particles in microfluidic devices, as well as for collecting quality video data from high-throughput biomedical microfluidic studies with frame rates on the order of hundreds to thousands of frames-per-second. It includes the Nikon ECLIPSE Ti2-e inverted fluorescence microscope, with a 25mm field of view side-port system. The system is managed by NIS-Elements AR Software, which enables 6D experiments and automatic sample analysis. The back-illuminated Teledyne Photometrics Kinetix Scientific CMOS (sCMOS) camera has been included in the setup, delivering the fastest speed and the largest field of view with the most balanced pixel size and near perfect 96% quantum efficiency.
Data sheet: link
Elveflow microfabrication station
The ElveFlow turnkey microfabrication station is designed for scientific laboratories and includes i) the necessary equipment to fabricate SU8 master molds and replicate them into PDMS chips in the absence of a clean room; ii) the most appropriate tools and optimized protocols, to ensure the efficient and facile usage of the system by non-microfluidics experts, with guaranteed optimal outcome, in terms of reproducibility and resolution
Elveflow microfluidic flow controller
The Elveflow OB1 is a pressure controller with high stability, sensitivity, and reactivity for microfluidic pressure and flow control within a compact design. It uses patented piezoelectric regulators to enable pressure and flow control. Besides, thanks to its very high air rate, its responsiveness is virtually independent of the sample size. The electronics controlling the OB1 allows for a synchronized control of 4 channels simultaneously, making it very well adapted to multiple inlet chips
