BDI: Biomedical Diagnostics Institute, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland.
Lab Chip. 2010 Oct 21;10(20):2680-7. doi: 10.1039/c004980h. Epub 2010 Aug 25.
We report the design, fabrication, and characterization of practical microfluidic valves fabricated using laser printer lithography. These optofluidic valves are opened by directing optical energy from a solid-state laser, with similar power characteristics to those used in CD/DVD drives, to a spot of printed toner where localized heating melts an orifice in the polymer layer in as little as 500 ms, connecting previously isolated fluidic components or compartments. Valve functionality, response time, and laser input energy dependence of orifice size are reported for cyclo-olefin polymer (COP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films. Implementation of these optofluidic valves is demonstrated on pressure-driven and centrifugal microfluidic platforms. In addition, these "one-shot" valves comprise a continuous polymer film that hermetically isolates on-chip fluid volumes within fluidic devices using low-vapor-permeability materials; we confirmed this for a period of one month. The fabrication and integration of optofluidic valves are compatible with a range of polymer microfabrication technologies and should facilitate the development of fully integrated, reconfigurable, and automated lab-on-a-chip systems, particularly when reagents must be stored on chip for extended periods, e.g. for medical diagnostic devices, lab-on-a-chip synthetic systems, or hazardous biochemical analysis platforms.
我们报告了使用激光打印机光刻技术制造实用微流控阀的设计、制造和特性。这些光流控阀通过将来自固态激光器的光能量引导到打印墨粉的一个点来打开，其功率特性与 CD/DVD 驱动器中使用的相似，局部加热可在短短 500 毫秒内熔化聚合物层中的孔，从而连接以前隔离的流体组件或隔室。报告了环烯烃聚合物 (COP) 和聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯 (PET) 薄膜的阀功能、响应时间和激光输入能量对孔尺寸的依赖性。在压力驱动和离心微流控平台上实现了这些光流控阀的功能。此外，这些“一次性”阀由连续的聚合物膜组成，该膜使用低蒸汽渗透性材料在微流控设备内的芯片上密封隔离流体体积；我们确认了这一点，持续了一个月。光流控阀的制造和集成与一系列聚合物微制造技术兼容，应有助于开发完全集成、可重构和自动化的芯片实验室系统，特别是当试剂必须在芯片上长时间储存时，例如用于医疗诊断设备、芯片实验室合成系统或危险生化分析平台。
