Biomedical subjects

Shramik Sengupta

Publications and source records attributed to Shramik Sengupta.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

A micro-scale multi-frequency reactance measurement technique to detect bacterial growth at low bio-particle concentrations.

The technique described enables the user to detect the presence and proliferation of bacteria through an increase in the bulk capacitance (C) of the suspension, which is proportional to the bacteria count, at practical frequencies less than 1 MHz. The geometry of the micro-capillary design employed increases the bulk resistance (R) of the medium, thus increasing its RC time. This makes the measured reactance sensitive to changes in the bulk capacitance, which is usually masked by the much larger surface capacitance. The sensitivity is further enhanced by the existence of a minimum in the value of the reactance at a frequency proportional to the inverse medium RC time. The value of this reactance minimum and the frequency at which the minimum is recorded are dependent on the bacteria count and permit the detection of an initial concentration of approximately 100 CFU ml(-1) of E. coli within 3 hours of incubation, in comparison with the previous reported values of about 8 hours, with an initial load of 1000 CFU ml(-1).

Bacteriological Techniques↗

PubMed2004

Application of the lag-after-pulsed-separation (LAPS) flow meter to different protein solutions.

A lag after pulsed separation (LAPS) meter was previously developed to measure flow rates of protein solutions. The LAPS meter operates on the time-of-flight principle. An upstream event (electrophoretic concentration of the particles in one section of the device) is detected downstream (by change in ac resistance). The time lag between the event and its detection is inversely proportional to the fluid flow rate. We demonstrate the ability of the LAPS meter to measure the flow rate of solutions containing one or more charged biomacromolecules or particles. A prototype of the LAPS meter was used to measure flow rates of solutions of model proteins [bovine serum albumin (BSA), lysozyme and hemoglobin] and mixtures of BSA and lysozyme. Flow rates of 10-50 microl min(-1)(average velocities of 0.24-1.2 mm s(-1)) were measured. When a single ac measurement was used, the results were solution-dependent, which we attribute to the interface between the protein solution and the ac electrodes. A differential mode, in which the signal from a positive and a negative dc pulse were subtracted from each other, eliminated interfacial effects and led to a single universal (solution-independent) calibration curve. The LAPS meter can be used as a non-invasive, no-moving-parts flow sensor in any microfluidic system (such as drug delivery devices or micro-reactor arrays) where one needs to measure the flow rate of a solution or a suspension containing charged species such as proteins or cells.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Multistage electrophoresis II: treatment of a kinetic separation as a pseudoequilibrium process.

An electrophoresis device is described which separates cells, particles, proteins and other separands by collecting samples having decreasing electrophoretic mobility in a train of inverted cavities while an electric field is applied between the inverted cavities and a sample cuvette containing a mixture of cells, particles, proteins or other separands. A circular plate is provided for the inverted cavities, and this circular plate is rotated to collect fractions. The system utilizes an innovative purification method that combines free electrophoresis and multistage extraction in an instrument capable of separating living cells, particles, and proteins in useful quantities at high concentrations. Most multistage processes are based on equilibrium separations, but electrophoresis is a kinetic separation; therefore, a pseudoequilibrium paradigm was developed for use in optimizing separation parameters including number of stages and electrophoresis time per stage. This paradigm allows the application of McCabe-Thiele type analysis, and it was calculated, for example, that two separands differing by 20% in electrophoretic mobility can be purified to 95% purity with acceptable yield in about seven stages. Laboratory experiments demonstrated a 95% purification in four stages of a separand originally present at 4% when electrophoretic mobilities differed by 80%.

Anions↗

PubMed2002

Sliding-cavity fluid contactors in low-gravity fluids, materials, and biotechnology research.

The well-known method of sliding-cavity fluid contactors used by Gosting for diffusion measurements and by Tiselius in electrophoresis has found considerable use in low-gravity research. To date, sliding-cavity contactors have been used in liquid diffusion experiments, interfacial transport experiments, biomolecular crystal growth, biphasic extraction, multistage extraction, microencapsulation, seed germination, invertebrate development, and thin-film casting. Sliding-cavity technology has several advantages for spaceflight: it is simple, it accommodates small samples, samples can be fully enclosed, phases can be combined, multiple samples can be processed at high sample density, real-time observations can be made, and mixed and diffused samples can be compared. An analysis of the transport phenomena that govern the sliding-cavity method is offered. During sliding of one liquid over another flow rates between 0.001 and 0.1m/sec are developed, giving Reynolds numbers in the range 0.1-100. Assuming no slip at liquid-solid boundaries shear rates are of the order 1sec(-1). The measured consequence is the transfer of 2-5% of the content of a cavity to the opposite cavity. In the absence of gravity, buoyancy-driven transport is assumed absent. Transport processes are limited to (1) molecular diffusion, in which reactants diffuse toward one another at rates that depend on their diffusion coefficient and concentration gradient (Fick's second law), (2) solutocapillary (Marangoni) flow driven by surface-tension gradients, (3) capillary flow (drop spreading) at liquid-solid three-phase lines leading to immiscible phase demixing, and (4) vapor-phase diffusive mass transfer in evaporative processes. Quantitative treatment of these phenomena has been accomplished over the past few years in low-gravity research in space and on aircraft.

Biotechnology↗