Microfluidics & artificial intelligence

Microfluidics & Artificial Intelligence

Microfluidics has been a particularly dynamic field of research since the turn of the 20th century. Some engineers use the term microfluidics to refer to the manufacture of ‘chips’ that guide the movement of fluids in channels of 1–100 µm in diameter. In this article, we will talk about microfluidics, a science that consists in controlling and handling fluids enclosed in very small-scale arrays, generally less than 100 µm in diameter.

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The importance of microfluidics

Biotechnology, pharmaceutical engineering, biodefense, chemical engineering, the list goes on. The concrete applications of microfluidics are simplified or miniature versions of traditional industrial or medical tests for revolutionary research projects. This variety of applications is helping to shape the future.

In recognition of this momentum, back in 2018, the European Commission announced that it wanted to accelerate developments in microfluidics as part of the Horizon 2020 programme, investing 7.1 million euros in the HoliFAB project.

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Artificial intelligenceat the heart of microfluidics

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As you will have understood, microfluidics is a major factor for scientific laboratories and Industry 4.0; the new challenge is to develop high-speed analysis tools that return significant results thanks to their rigorous algorithms.

R&D Vision has forged a network of partners (Microfactory, Fluigent, etc.) to develop complete microfluidics solutions from chip design to the analysis of flows within microchannels. For more than 15 years, the R&D Vision systems have equipped scientific laboratories and manufacturers with high-speed video imaging and customised artificial intelligence solutions.

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Optical system:

Using specific wavelength and power light sources depending on the experimental conditions (fluorescence, transmission, etc.) and qualifying sensors that offer the best compromise in terms of resolution, speed and sensitivity (qCMOS, EM-CCD, sCMOS, etc.),

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‍Data flow management:

Acquiring high-speed, HD images for several minutes, several hours even, using the software suite developed by R&D Vision:

• HIRIS – a universal image acquisition platform,
• Tool Microflu to control peripheral devices: fluid controllers, potentiostats, synchronisation electronics, etc.
• IoTool Light to define advanced scripts with other signals: photomultipliers, etc.

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Image processing using artificial intelligence:

Our teams of engineers and PhD staff, who are specialised in-house, develop and qualify algorithms. They do so by considering the expected performances (notion of scores) and calculation times (according to the platform, if embedded or not). Therefore, it is possible to perform measurements: object recognition and classification (cells, neurons, etc.), fluorescence measurements, real-time tracking, 2D/3D analyses, etc.

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Using our personalised systems, you can analyse the data collected in record time while controlling your budgets.

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Contact us!

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