Development of PDMS-based Microfluidic Device for Cell-based Assays

Development of PDMS-based Microfluidic Device for Cell-based Assays

In a single step photolithography, muhi-level microfluidic device is fabricated by printing novel architectures on a film photomasks. The whole fabrication process is executed by classical PCB technology without the need to access clean room facilities. Different levels of protruding features on PCB master are produced by exposing a photomask with specifically arranged "windows and rims" architectures, followed by chemical wet etching. Poly(dimethylsiloxane)(PDMS) is then molded against the positive relief master to generate microfluidic device featured with multi-level sandbag structure and peripheral microchannels. This sandbag structure is an analog to traditional dam or weir for particle entrapment. The microstructure does not collapse when subjected to applied pressure, which is suitable for operation on elastic PDMS substrate.Typical immunocytochemcial staining assays were performed in the microdevice to demonstrate the applicability of the sandbag structure for cellular analysis. This simplified microfabrication process employs low-cost materials and minimal specialized equipment and can reproducibly produce mask lines with about 20 μm in width, which is sufficient for most microfluidic applications.