Department of Biomedical Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, 17104, Republic of Korea.
Small. 2018 Dec;14(52):e1802769. doi: 10.1002/smll.201802769. Epub 2018 Oct 30.
Rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices has advanced greatly, along with the development of 3D printing and micromachining technologies. However, peripheral systems for microfluidics still rely on conventional equipment, such as bench-top microscopy and syringe pumps, which limit system modification and further improvements. Herein, optofluidic modular blocks are presented as discrete elements to modularize peripheral optical and fluidic systems and are used for on-demand and open-source prototyping of whole microfluidic systems. Each modular block is fabricated by embedding optical or fluidic devices into the corresponding 3D-printed housing. The self-interlocking structure of the modular blocks enables easy assembly and reconfiguration of the blocks in an intuitive manner, while also providing precise optical and fluidic alignment between the blocks. With the library of standardized modular blocks developed here, how the blocks can be easily assembled to build whole microfluidic systems for blood compatibility testing, droplet microfluidics, and cell migration assays is demonstrated. Based on the simplicity of assembling the optofluidic blocks, the prototyping platform can be easily used for open-source sharing of digital design files, assembly and operation instructions, and block specifications, thereby making it easy for nonexperts to implement microfluidic ideas as physical systems.
微流控器件的快速原型制作技术随着 3D 打印和微加工技术的发展取得了重大进展。然而，微流控的外围系统仍然依赖于传统设备，如台式显微镜和注射器泵，这限制了系统的改进和进一步的改进。本文提出了光流控模块块作为离散元件，用于模块化外围的光学和流体系统，并用于按需和开源的整个微流控系统的原型制作。每个模块块都是通过将光学或流体装置嵌入到相应的 3D 打印外壳中制造的。模块块的自锁定结构以直观的方式实现了模块的轻松组装和重新配置，同时还提供了模块之间的精确光学和流体对准。通过开发这里的标准化模块库，演示了如何轻松地组装这些模块来构建用于血液相容性测试、液滴微流控和细胞迁移分析的整个微流控系统。基于组装光流控模块的简单性，原型制作平台可以轻松地用于开源共享数字设计文件、组装和操作说明以及模块规格，从而使非专业人员可以轻松地将微流控思想实现为物理系统。
