Fabrication of Biological Microfluidics Using a Digital Microfabrication System

Abstract

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technologies illustrate the potential for many applications in the field of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and life sciences. The fabrication of tissue models integrates the multidisciplinary field of life sciences and engineering. Presently, monolayer cell cultures are frequently used to investigate potential anticancer agents. These monolayer cultures give limited feedback on the effects of the microenvironment. A microenvironment, which mimics that of the target tissue, will eliminate the limitations of the traditional mainstays of tissue research. The fabrication of such microenvironment requires a thorough investigation of the actual target organ, and or tissue. Conventional MEMS technologies are developed for the fabrication of integrated circuits on silicon wafers. Conventional MEMS technologies are very expensive and are not developed for biological applications. The digital micromirroring microfabrication (DMM) system eliminates the need for an expensive chrome mask by incorporating a dynamic maskless fabrication technique. The DMM is designed to utilize its digital micromirrors to fabricate of biological devices. This digital microfabrication system provides a platform for the fabrication of economic biological microfluidics that is specifically designed to mimic the in vivo conditions of the tissue of interest. Investigations portrayed in this paper demonstrate the DMM capabilities to develop biological microfluidics. Though the applications of the DMM are extensive, the simple sinusoidal microfluidic characterized in this paper illustrates the DMM capabilities to develop biological microfluidic chips.