Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA.
Sci Rep. 2019 Mar 18;9(1):4824. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-41208-y.
There is a great interest in low-cost, versatile microfluidic platforms of which the fabrication processes are rapid, straightforward, and translatable to industrial mass productions. In addition, it is beneficial for microfluidic devices to be reconfigurable in the field, so that multiple functions can be realized by a minimum number of devices. Here, we present a versatile acrylic-tape platform which allows highly accessible rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices, as well as device reconfiguration to realize different functions. The clean-room-free fabrication and sealing process only requires a laser cutter, acrylic, and tapes and can be done by an untrained person in the field. We experimentally characterized the relationship between the capillary flow speed and the channel height, the latter of which can be well controlled by the fabrication process. Reconfiguration of microfluidic functions was demonstrated on a single acrylic-tape device, thanks to the reversible sealing enabled by functional tapes. Different pumping mechanisms, including on-chip pumps for better portability and syringe pumps for precise fluid control, have been employed for the demonstration of two-phase flow and droplet generation, respectively. The low-cost and versatile acrylic-tape microfluidic devices are promising tools for applications in a wide range of fields, especially for point-of-care biomedical and clinical applications.
人们对低成本、多功能的微流控平台很感兴趣，其制造工艺快速、直接，可以转化为工业大规模生产。此外，微流控设备在现场进行可重构是有益的，这样可以通过最少数量的设备来实现多种功能。在这里，我们提出了一种通用的亚克力带平台，它允许对微流控设备进行高度可访问的快速原型制作，以及设备的重新配置以实现不同的功能。无洁净室的制造和密封过程仅需要激光切割机、亚克力和胶带，并且可以由现场未经培训的人员完成。我们通过实验表征了毛细流速与通道高度之间的关系，后者可以通过制造工艺很好地控制。得益于功能胶带实现的可逆密封，在单个亚克力带设备上演示了微流控功能的重新配置。为了演示两相流和液滴生成，分别采用了片上泵（用于更好的便携性）和注射器泵（用于精确的流体控制）等不同的泵送机制。低成本、多功能的亚克力带微流控设备是广泛应用领域的有前途的工具，特别是在即时医疗和临床应用方面。
