Our Output

Publications & Achievements

Selected recent publications and recognition from our research group.

Recent Publications(19)

2025

A Modular and Reconfigurable Microfluidic Device for Culturing Spheroids Under Continuous Perfusion

H. Aljayyousi*, S. Sahloul*, A. Orozaliev*, N. Baban*, A.-D. Van*, A. Al Nuairi*, P. John, A. Zam, P. Percipalle, Y.-A. Song

APL BioengineeringJournal Article

We developed a versatile microfluidic modular device with a reconfigurable channel design that is customizable by altering the channel configuration in the adhesive layer. The resealable adhesive layer also enables open access to the wells for loading cells, continuous perfusion after closing, and facile retrieval of spheroids for downstream analysis and imaging after culturing.

2025

Accelerating Cleavage Activity of CRISPR-Cas13 System on a Microfluidic Chip for Rapid Detection of RNA

J. Kim*, A. Orozaliev*, S. Sahloul*, A.-D. Van*, V.-T. Dang, V.-S. Pham, Y. Oh, I. Chehade, M. Al-Sayegh, Y.-A. Song

Analytical ChemistryJournal Article

We combined the CRISPR 13a detection with the ion concentration polarization (ICP) in a single microfluidic device and enhanced its detection speed and sensitivity.

2025

Investigating the Mechanism of Ion Concentration Polarization within Nanofluidic Hydrogel Membranes: Experiment and Simulation

H. Aljayyousi*, J. Kim*, S. Kirmizialtin, Y.-A. Song

Advanced Materials InterfacesJournal Article

We conducted molecular dynamics simulations to study nanoscale phenomena of ion concentration polarization around a cation-selective membrane and found the effects of the ionic strength, electrical field, and membrane surface conductance densities. Featured on the inside front cover of the issue.

2025

MechanoBioCAD: A Generalized Semi-Automated Computational Tool for Mechanobiological Studies

N. Baban*, C. Stubbs, Y.-A. Song

Lab on a ChipJournal Article

We developed a software tool based on Abaqus to measure forces of various single and multicellular organisms for mechanobiological studies.

2024

3D manipulation of small multicellular organisms in soft microtubes

M. Khobdabayev*, T. Hayek*, S. Alnajjar*, L. Alkasaji*, A. Orozaliev, Y.-A. Song

AIP Advances Journal Article

We developed a soft PDMS microtube that can be gently stretched and released, immobilizing small multicellular organisms without anesthetization and damage. This tube enables easy rotation and adjustment of orientation, facilitating comprehensive imaging

2024

BioTrojans: Viscoelastic Microvalve-based Attacks in Flow-based Microfluidic Biochips and their Countermeasures

N. Baban*, J. Zhou, K. Elkhoury, S. Bhattacharjee, S. Vijayavenkataraman, N. Gupta, Y.-A. Song, K. Chakrabarty, R. Karri

Scientific ReportsJournal Article

We demonstrate a material-based biochip attack termed “BioTrojans,” which are chemically tampered and optically stealthy microvalves that can be ruptured through low-frequency actuations. To counter BioTrojan attacks, we propose a security-by-design approach using smooth peripheral fillets to reduce stress concentration by over 50% and a spectral authentication method using fluorescent microvalves capable of effectively detecting BioTrojans

2023

Plasmonics for neuroengineering

7. N.S. Susan Mousavi, K. Ramadi, Y.-A. Song, S. Kumar

Communications MaterialsJournal Article

This is an in-depth review paper that reports on the basics of plasmonics and various applications of plasmonics for neuroengineering

2023

Material-level countermeasures for securing microfluidic biochips

N. Baban*, S. Saha, S. Jancheska, I. Singh, S. Khapli, M. Khobdabayev*, J. Kim*, S. Bhattacharjee, Y.-A. Song, K. Chakrabarty, R. Karri

Lab on a ChipJournal Article

We present a dynamic material-level watermarking scheme for PDMS-based flow-based microfluidic biochips (FMBs) with microvalves using a perylene-labeled fluorescent dye. This countermeasure can proactively safeguard FMBs against material-level attacks in the era of global pandemics and diagnostics based on POCTs

2023

High-yield, one-pot upcycling of polyethylene and polypropylene waste into blue-emissive carbon dots

9. M. Abdelhameed, M. Elbeh, N. Baban*, L. Pereira, J. Matula, Y.-A. Song, K. Ramadi

Green ChemistryJournal Article

We report a facile, single-step, and organic solvent-free hydrothermal process to convert polyethylene-based plastic bags and polypropylene-based surgical masks into carbon dots with a 96% production yield. The produced CDs are soluble in aqueous and various organic solvents, show excitation-dependent emission consistent with their 1–8 nm size, and exhibit thermal and photostability.

2022

Structural Attacks and Defenses for Flow-Based Microfluidic Biochips

10. N. Baban*, S. Saha, A, Orozaliev, J. Kim*, S. Bhattacharjee, Y.-A. Song, R. Karri, K. Chakrabarty

IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and SystemsJournal Article

In this paper, we have demonstrated a structural attack on microfluidic biochips by varying the height of micro reaction chambers. We adopted two existing deep learning-based anomaly detection algorithms with ∼ 96% validation accuracy to detect SB attacks in recognizing deliberately introduced microstructural anomalies. To safeguard FMBs against intellectual property (IP)-theft, we proposed a novel device-level watermarking scheme for FMBs using intensity-height correlation.

2022

Rational design of bioinspired tissue adhesives

N. Baban*, A. Orozaliev*, S. Kirchhof, C. Stubbs, Y.-A. Song

Clinical and Translational MedicineJournal Article

In this commentary, we have discussed the potential application of tunable adhesives in biomedical areas such as wound healing

2022

Biomimicking interfacial fracture behavior of lizard tail autotomy with soft microinterlocking structures

12. N. Baban*, A. Orozaliev*, S. Kirchhof, C. Stubbs, Y.-A. Song

Bioinspiration & BiomimeticsJournal Article

In this paper, we have demonstrated a biomimetic model of the lizard tail fracture using pneumatically actuated soft interlocked microstructures.

2022

Biomimetic fracture model of lizard tail autotomy

N. Baban*, A. Orozaliev*, S. Kirchhof, C. Stubbs, Y.-A. Song

ScienceJournal Article

This paper explains the lizard tail fracture mechanism using a computational and experimental model

2021

Label-Free Detection of Morpholino-DNA Hybridization Using a Silicon Photonics Suspended Slab Micro-Ring Resonator

S. Yousuf, J. Kim*, A. Orozaliev*, M. Dahlem, Y.-A. Song, J. Viegas

IEEE Photonics JournalJournal Article

In this paper, we demonstrated a suspended microring resonator for the label-free detection of morpholino-DNA hybridization inside a microfluidic chip

2021

Biophysical analysis of drug efficacy on C. elegans models for neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases

S. Sofela*, S. Sahloul*, Y.-A. Song

PLoS ONE Journal Article

In this paper, we have investigated the efficacy of various drugs for treating neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases using C. elegans models.

2021

Thwarting Bio-IP Theft Through Dummy-Valve-based Obfuscation

M. Shayan, S. Bhattacharjee, A. Orozaliev*, Y.-A. Song, K. Chakrabarty, R. Karri

IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and SecurityJournal Article

In this paper, we introduce the use of a dummy valve as a security primitive to obfuscate bioassay implementations; (2) we show how dummy valves can be used to obscure biochip building blocks such as multiplexers and mixers; (3) we present design rules and security metrics to design and measure obfuscation

2020

Understanding interfacial fracture behavior between microinterlocked soft layers using physics-based cohesive zone modeling

N. Baban*, A. Orozaliev*, C. Stubbs, Y.-A. Song

Physical Review EJournal Article

In this paper, we have investigated the fracture behavior in the microinterlocked interface of soft layers experimentally as well as computationally using a FEM model

2020

Quantitative fluorescence imaging of mitochondria in body wall muscles of Caenorhabditis elegans under hyperglycemic conditions using a microfluidic chip

S. Sofela*, S. Sahloul*, S. Bhattacharjee, A. Bose, U. Usman*, Y.-A. Song

Integrative BiologyJournal Article

We have developed a single-channel microfluidic device that can trap C. elegans and allow us to image the mitochondria in body wall muscles accurately and with higher throughput than the traditional approach. In specific, our microfluidic device took advantage of the proprioception of the worm to rotate its body in a microfluidic channel with an aspect ratio above one to gain more space for its undulation motion that was favorable for quantitative fluorescence imaging of mitochondria in the body wall muscles. We observed a significant decrease in the mitochondrial fluorescence intensity under hyperglycemic conditions by exploiting this unique feature of microfluidic chip-based immobilization and fluorescence imaging. In contrast, the agarose pad-based approach showed no significant change under the same conditions.

2020

Microfluidic Electrokinetic Preconcentration Chip for Enhanced Detection of Nucleic Acids and Exosomes

J. Kim*, S. Sahloul*, A. Orozaliev*, V. Do, V. S. Pham, D. Martins*, X. Wei*, R. Levicky, Y.-A. Song

IEEE Nanotechnology MagazineJournal Article

In this review paper, we have reviewed the latest development of microfluidic electrokinetic preconcentration for enhanced detection of nucleic acids such as DNAs and RNAs as well as exosomes for liquid biopsy