Rapid Fabrication of Custom Microfluidic Devices for Research and Educational Applications

This method for making microfluidic chips is both inexpensive and simple to implement. Any research lab can produce these microfluidics in-house. And the device designs can be iterated within minutes.

The main advantage of this technique is its efficiency. That is to say, any lab can make their own custom microfluidic devices in-house quickly and easily. After hand layering each layer of the device, draw the final designs for the layers on a computer, using any software program that allows drawing lines and shapes.

Obtain a screen capture of the drawn design and import each layer into a Craft Cutter Software Program. Create a new document and drop the image file on the displayed mat. To trace the design, select the trace icon and completely select the imported designs.

Select the trace preview outline option, and adjust the threshold and scale settings as necessary, until the yellow trace matches the design. Select trace from the trace menu. The channels will be shown as a red contour.

To size the device, select the traced design, and use the grid provided by the software to change the width and length of the channels and chambers. Small lines can be drawn temporarily to measure the dimensions within the device. After the device has been properly sized, use the drawing tool to draw a square of the same shape and size over each layer of the device.

Next, draw a circles over the inlet and outlet ports of the design. Then copy and paste, both the original and the circles. And erase the channels from the underlying device.

Arranging all of the layers to be cut on the displayed mat. To cut the layers, wearing gloves, place a single PET-EVA film of a preferred thickness onto the adhesive cutting mat. With the opaque adhesive side facing up, and the plastic shiny side facing down.

Flatten the film against the mat, removing all of the air that may have been trapped. And click load mat on the cutter. Open the send tab, and select a cutting setting.

Then click send. To align the material for cutting, place the cutting mat next to a clean surface, and use a pair of tweezers or spatula to transfer each layer of the microfluidic device from the cut mat onto the clean surface in order, according to their top-to-bottom position in the device. Next, cut three by 10 millimeter pieces of a double-sided tape, and superimpose the layers one-by-one, starting with the bottom layer.

Then adding a small piece of tape to each corner between the layers. When all of the layers have been placed, inspect the device. There should be at least one mat EVA side between each of the layers.

And no EVA should be exposed. To laminate the device, after turning on the laminator, set the instrument to the desired thickness setting. And run the device through laminating rollers.

Then recover the laminated device. To create the inlet and outlet ports, use a rotary tool and a 1/37 inch drill to cut a small hole through the center of a furniture bumper. Then, use small tweezers to clear the orifice of any debris.

And carefully align the bumpers with the inlet outlet ports on the device. To test the fully assembled device, use laboratory tubing to attach the device to a plastic connector. And flush the device with an appropriate solution.

Using this device, cell culture medium can be exchanged during imaging, allowing the maintenance of ideal growth conditions, and the controlled introduction of chemical stimuli in real-time. This is also true for the imaging of the ex vibo micro organs. The pedal device has also been successfully used to complete compression testing of Drosophila micro organs.

Because of their ease of fabrication, pedal devices can also be used in educational settings. For example, to visual hydrodynamic focusing and diffusion. Pedals can be used for classroom demonstrations or for experiments that require the precise environmental control of the sample.

Such as testing a drug, or introducing a treatment while limiting. Using as pedal device to probe the mechanical properties of a developing wing imaginal disc in fruit flies, we found that the tissue stiffness decreases over the developmental periods studied.