{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,26]],"date-time":"2026-04-26T07:15:48Z","timestamp":1777187748804,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,13]],"date-time":"2025-10-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760313600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002347","name":"Federal Ministry of Education and Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["01IS21098A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["01IS21098A"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002347","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"National Scientific and Technical Research Argentinian Council","award":["PID UTN TC 59"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PID UTN TC 59"]}]},{"name":"National Scientific and Technical Research Argentinian Council","award":["PID UTN TCI58"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PID UTN TCI58"]}]},{"name":"National Scientific and Technical Research Argentinian Council","award":["FITBA 2024 195A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FITBA 2024 195A"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biosensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>T cells play a pivotal role in cancer research, particularly in immunotherapy, which harnesses the immune system to target malignancies. However, conventional expansion methods face limitations such as high reagent consumption, contamination risks, and difficulties in maintaining suspension cells in dynamic culture environments. This study presents a microfluidic system for long-term culture of non-adherent cells, featuring automated perfusion and image acquisition. The system integrates deep learning-based image analysis, which quantifies cell coverage and estimates cell numbers, and efficiently processes large volumes of data. The performance of this deep learning approach was benchmarked against the widely used Trainable Weka Segmentation (TWS) plugin for Fiji. Additionally, two distinct lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices were evaluated independently: the commercial ibidi\u00ae LOC and a custom-made PDMS LOC. The setup supported the proliferation of Jurkat cells and primary human T cells without significant loss during medium exchange. Each platform proved suitable for long-term expansion while offering distinct advantages in terms of design, cell seeding and recovery, and reusability. This integrated approach enables extended experiments with minimal manual intervention, stable perfusion, and supports multi-reagent administration, offering a powerful platform for advancing suspension cell research in immunotherapy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bios15100693","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T10:12:29Z","timestamp":1760523149000},"page":"693","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Automated T-Cell Proliferation in Lab-on-Chip Devices Integrating Microfluidics and Deep Learning-Based Image Analysis for Long-Term Experiments"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5915-8895","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mar\u00eda Fernanda","family":"Cadena Vizuete","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Mertelsmann Foundation, 79104 Freiburg, Germany"},{"name":"Facultad de Farmacia y Bioqu\u00edmica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Aut\u00f3noma de Buenos Aires 1113, Argentina"},{"name":"Faculty of Biology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany"},{"name":"CONICET, Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiolog\u00eda y Parasitolog\u00eda M\u00e9dica (IMPaM), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Aut\u00f3noma de Buenos Aires 1121, Argentina"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Martin","family":"Condor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LABMaiTE GmbH, 79110 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-6606-4440","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dennis","family":"Raith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LABMaiTE GmbH, 79110 Freiburg, Germany"},{"name":"Neurorobotics Lab, Department of Computer Science, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Avani","family":"Sapre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mertelsmann Foundation, 79104 Freiburg, Germany"},{"name":"LABMaiTE GmbH, 79110 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3090-7442","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marie","family":"Follo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine I, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Center\u2013University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany"},{"name":"Lighthouse Core Facility, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Center\u2013University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gina","family":"Layedra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IREN Center, National Technological University, Buenos Aires 1706, Argentina"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Roland","family":"Mertelsmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mertelsmann Foundation, 79104 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maximiliano","family":"Perez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IREN Center, National Technological University, Buenos Aires 1706, Argentina"},{"name":"Collaborative Research Institute Intelligent Oncology (CRIION), 79110 Freiburg, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33174, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3341-5686","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Betiana","family":"Lerner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IREN Center, National Technological University, Buenos Aires 1706, Argentina"},{"name":"Collaborative Research Institute Intelligent Oncology (CRIION), 79110 Freiburg, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33174, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mee.2019.01.004","article-title":"Microfluidic Platforms for Cell Cultures and Investigations","volume":"208","author":"Coluccio","year":"2019","journal-title":"Microelectron. 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