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Facile Method for Fabricating Microfluidic Chip Integrated with Microwell Arrays for Cell Trapping
Hongyue Wu1,2, Zhixing Ge2,3, Wenguang Yang4
1School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110004, China.
Micromachines
|November 17, 2019
Summary
This study introduces a rapid, cost-effective optofluidic maskless lithography method for fabricating microfluidic devices with microwells, enabling precise single-cell analysis and research applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Microfluidics
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Personalized diagnosis and treatment at the single-cell level are increasingly vital in medicine.
- Microfluidic chips are powerful tools for cell separation, proliferation, and behavior analysis.
- Traditional microfluidic device fabrication is complex and expensive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a rapid and cost-effective method for fabricating microfluidic devices with integrated microwells.
- To enable on-line design and modulation of microwell patterns for tailored cell manipulation.
Main Methods:
- Optofluidic maskless lithography was employed for device fabrication.
- Microwell designs were created and modulated on-line.
- Polystyrene microspheres and MCF-7 cells were used for trapping and array experiments.
Main Results:
- Successfully fabricated microfluidic devices with integrated microwells.
- Demonstrated on-line design and modulation of microwell exposure patterns.
- Achieved successful trapping of single/multi polystyrene microspheres and MCF-7 cells, forming cell arrays.
Conclusions:
- The proposed optofluidic maskless lithography method offers a rapid and efficient approach for microfluidic device fabrication.
- The fabricated devices with custom microwells are suitable for various cell research applications, including cell trapping and array formation.
