Gyimah Nafisat, Scheler Ott, Rang Toomas, Pardy Tamas
Thomas Johann Seebeck Department of Electronics, Tallinn University of Technology, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia.
Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Tallinn University of Technology, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia.
Micromachines (Basel). 2021 Mar 22;12(3):339. doi: 10.3390/mi12030339.
In recent years, additive manufacturing has steadily gained attention in both research and industry. Applications range from prototyping to small-scale production, with 3D printing offering reduced logistics overheads, better design flexibility and ease of use compared with traditional fabrication methods. In addition, printer and material costs have also decreased rapidly. These advantages make 3D printing attractive for application in microfluidic chip fabrication. However, 3D printing microfluidics is still a new area. Is the technology mature enough to print complex microchannel geometries, such as droplet microfluidics? Can 3D-printed droplet microfluidic chips be used in biological or chemical applications? Is 3D printing mature enough to be used in every research lab? These are the questions we will seek answers to in our systematic review. We will analyze (1) the key performance metrics of 3D-printed droplet microfluidics and (2) existing biological or chemical application areas. In addition, we evaluate (3) the potential of large-scale application of 3D printing microfluidics. Finally, (4) we discuss how 3D printing and digital design automation could trivialize microfluidic chip fabrication in the long term. Based on our analysis, we can conclude that today, 3D printers could already be used in every research lab. Printing droplet microfluidics is also a possibility, albeit with some challenges discussed in this review.
近年来，增材制造在研究和工业领域都逐渐受到关注。其应用范围涵盖从原型制作到小规模生产，与传统制造方法相比，3D打印可减少物流开销、提供更好的设计灵活性且易于使用。此外，打印机和材料成本也迅速下降。这些优势使得3D打印在微流控芯片制造中的应用颇具吸引力。然而，3D打印微流控技术仍是一个新领域。该技术是否足够成熟以打印复杂的微通道几何结构，如液滴微流控？3D打印的液滴微流控芯片能否用于生物或化学应用？3D打印是否足够成熟到可在每个研究实验室使用？这些就是我们将在系统综述中寻求答案的问题。我们将分析（1）3D打印液滴微流控的关键性能指标以及（2）现有的生物或化学应用领域。此外，我们评估（3）3D打印微流控大规模应用的潜力。最后，（4）我们讨论3D打印和数字设计自动化如何能从长远来看使微流控芯片制造变得简单。基于我们的分析，我们可以得出结论，如今3D打印机已可在每个研究实验室使用。打印液滴微流控也是有可能的，尽管本综述中讨论了一些挑战。
