Design and Fabrication of a Polymeric Microfilter for Medical Applications

Abstract

This paper reports on design, fabrication, and characterization of a microfilter to be used in biomedical applications. The microfilter, with mesh of 80 خ¼m, is fabricated by microinjection molding process in polymeric material (polyoxymethylene (POM)) using a steel mold manufactured by microelectrical discharge machining process. The characteristics of the filter are investigated by numerical simulation in order to define a suitable geometry for microinjection molding. Then, different process configurations of parameters (melt temperature, injection velocity, mold temperature, holding pressure and time, cooling time, pressure limit) are tested in order to obtain the complete part filling via microinjection molding process preventing any defects. Finally, the component is dimensionally characterized and the process parameters optimized to obtain the maximum filtration capacity.