Cătălin POPA
Dean, Faculty of Materials and Environmental Engineering; Head of Biomaterials Research Group; Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA.
Dr. Cătălin Popa is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Dean of the Faculty of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Head of the Biomaterials Research Group in the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (TUCN). He is an Engineer since 1986 and, after working as a design engineer in several companies, he has become a member of the academic staff of TUCN since 1990. From the very early stages of his career, he worked in the field of Biomaterials and, later, he created the Biomaterials Research Group. Doctor of Engineering since 1997, Professor Popa was awarded a NATO / Royal Society Fellowship in the University of Nottingham (2000).
He was a recognized researcher in numerous research projects in the UK, in the IRC in Biomedical Materials, Queen Mary, University of London, and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, STFC, as well as director in 29 research grants awarded by Romanian public funding bodies. The Biomaterials Research Group he leads focuses on optimisation of medical implants / devices, Tissue Engineering applications, drug delivery systems and Medical Microfluidics. Fundamental or developmental research for industry, in Romania, Germany or UK is, also, a key topic for the group he leads.
Abstract
FIELD FLOW EFFECTS IN CAPILLARY FORCE MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES DESIGNED FOR MEDICAL APPLICATIONS
Paper Microfluidics or, more generally, Capillary Force Microfluidics, became a very important topic of Microfluidics and medical technologies, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. Membranes made of various non-woven materials or other type of substrates such as yarns can be employed not only for rapid tests using specific reagents or molecules, but also for selectively actuate various particles or cells in view of more complex analyses or even therapy. For this, a synergic effect of capillary and field forces, such as electrophoretic or dielectrophoretic, can be employed in view of obtaining an advanced selectivity, as well as for enabling the development of cheap and fast therapies at the cellular level or even to produce active elements in medical MEMS. Cellulose or polylactic acid membranes were used for manufacturing of devices aiming to direct and contain the flows. The polymer substrates were previously activated in order to display a temporary hydrophilic effect. The devices were inserted in custom – made devices that produce even / uneven electric fields aiming to induce electrophoretic / dielectrophoretic forces upon polarizable particles in the flow. 3D constructs made by the “origami” method aiming to produce a spatial distribution of capillary and field forces were considered as well.
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