Geffert Zachary J, Xiong Zheng, Grutzmacher Jenna, Wilderman Maximilian, Mohammadi Ali, Filip Alex, Li Zhen, Soman Pranav
Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, 900 S Crouse Avenue, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States.
3D Microfluidics LLC, 5900 Strawmount Trail, Chittenango, New York 13037, United States.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 Dec 18;16(50):69807-69817. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c10547. Epub 2024 Dec 3.
Although many lab-on-chip applications require inch-sized devices with microscale feature resolution, achieving this via current 3D printing methods remains challenging due to inherent trade-offs between print resolution, design complexity, and build sizes. Inspired by microscopes that can switch objectives to achieve multiscale imaging, we report a new optical printer coined multipath projection stereolithography (MPS) specifically designed for printing microfluidic devices. MPS is designed to switch between high-resolution (1× mode, ∼10 μm) and low-resolution (3× mode, ∼30 μm) optical paths to generate centimeter-sized constructs (3 × 6 cm) with a feature resolution of ∼10 μm. Illumination and projection systems were designed, resin formulations were optimized, and slicing software was integrated with hardware with the goal of ease of use. Using a test case of micromixers, we show that user-defined CAD models can be directly input to an automated slicing software to define printing of low-resolution features via the 3× mode with embedded microscale fins via 1× mode. A new computational model, validated using experimental results, was used to simulate various fin designs, and experiments were conducted to verify simulated mixing efficiencies. New 3D out-of-plane micromixer designs were simulated and tested. To show broad applications of MPS, multichambered chips and microfluidic devices with microtraps were also printed. Overall, MPS can be a new fabrication tool to rapidly print a range of lab-on-chip applications.
尽管许多芯片实验室应用需要具有微米级特征分辨率的英寸尺寸设备，但通过当前的3D打印方法实现这一目标仍然具有挑战性，因为在打印分辨率、设计复杂性和构建尺寸之间存在固有的权衡。受可切换物镜以实现多尺度成像的显微镜的启发，我们报告了一种新的光学打印机，称为多路径投影立体光刻（MPS），专门设计用于打印微流控设备。MPS旨在在高分辨率（1×模式，10μm）和低分辨率（3×模式，30μm）光路之间切换，以生成具有~10μm特征分辨率的厘米尺寸结构（3×6cm）。设计了照明和投影系统，优化了树脂配方，并将切片软件与硬件集成，目标是易于使用。以微混合器为例，我们展示了用户定义的CAD模型可以直接输入到自动切片软件中，以通过3×模式定义低分辨率特征的打印，并通过1×模式定义带有嵌入式微米级翅片的打印。使用实验结果验证的新计算模型用于模拟各种翅片设计，并进行实验以验证模拟的混合效率。模拟并测试了新的3D平面外微混合器设计。为了展示MPS的广泛应用，还打印了带有微阱的多腔芯片和微流控设备。总体而言，MPS可以成为一种新的制造工具，用于快速打印一系列芯片实验室应用。
