Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
chemisorption:
Adhesion of a molecule onto a surface via the formation of a chemical bond
chemotaxis:
Cellular motion that is directed by chemicals or chemical gradients present in the
extracellular environment.
CHO cells:
Abbreviation that stands for Chinese hamster ovary cell, a cell line derived in 1957
by heodore T. Puck from the ovary of a Chinese hamster (chosen because of its very
low chromosome number for a mammal, 2n = 22, which yields stabler gene expression
upon transfection). CHO cells are oten used as a mammalian host for the in vitro pro-
duction of recombinant proteins.
CMOS:
Abbreviation that stands for Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor, a technol-
ogy for building integrated circuits.
CNS:
Abbreviation that stands for Central Nervous System.
Coandă efect:
he tendency of a luid jet to be attracted to a nearby surface. Named ater
its discoverer, Romanian inventor and aerodynamics pioneer, Henri Marie Coandă
(1886-1972).
collagen:
A family of connective tissue proteins (with more than two dozen members); one of
the major components of the extracellular matrix.
contact angle:
he angle at which a liquid-gas interface meets a solid surface.
contact guidance:
Tendency of cells to align to topographical features such as edges and grooves.
continuous-low electrophoresis:
See
free-low electrophoresis.
cross-linker:
A molecule with two reactive functional groups, which can then be used to link two
molecules with functional groups that react selectively with those of the cross-linker.
D
Dahleh micromixer:
Microluidic mixer that homogenizes two input solutions by quickly alter-
nating their injection into a microchannel, which results in Taylor dispersion efec-
tively helping the mixing process; it was invented by Mohammed Dahleh (1961-2000)
and Igor Mezic at the University of California (Santa Barbara) in 1999.
Darcy's law:
Equation that describes luid low through a porous medium. It was derived experi-
mentally in 1856 by French engineer Henry Darcy using columns of sand. It can also be
derived from the Navier-Stokes equation.
Debye layer:
Double layer of ions and counter-ions that form on a surface when the surface is
placed in contact with a liquid.
Debye length:
In the context of liquids contacting a surface, it is the characteristic thickness of
the Debye layer. In general, it expresses the scale over which charges screen out other
charges.
denaturation (of a protein):
Loss of quaternary, tertiary, or secondary structure of a protein.
Denaturation may occur due to heat, by application of forces or a solvent, and changes
in the ionic environment.
Dertinger gradient generator:
Microluidic gradient generator invented by George Whitesides
and Stephan Dertinger in 2001. he gradient generator is based on splitting and
recombining the inlet streams a large number of times until a smooth gradient is
created.
diaphragm micropump:
Microluidic pump whose main pumping mechanism is based on the
delection of a diaphragm.
diazirines:
Class of photoreactive organic molecules that are used in cross-linkers for labeling
nucleic acids and proteins.
DiCarlo cell counter:
An ultra-high-throughput microluidic cytometer invented in 2010 by
young professor Dino DiCarlo from the University of California at Berkeley.
dielectrophoresis:
he motion of particles (charged or uncharged) as a result of polarization
induced by nonuniform electric ields; the induced force is a function of the polarizability
