RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Fundamentals of rapid injection molding for microfluidic cell-based assays
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 194605
DO 10.1101/194605
A1 Ulri N. Lee
A1 Xiaojing Su
A1 David J. Guckenberger
A1 Ashley M. Dostie
A1 Tianzi Zhang
A1 Erwin Berthier
A1 Ashleigh B. Theberge
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/09/28/194605.abstract
AB Microscale cell-based assays have demonstrated unique capabilities in reproducing important cellular behaviors for diagnostics and basic biological research. As these assays move beyond the prototyping stage and into biological and clinical research environments, there is a need to produce microscale culture platforms more rapidly, cost-effectively, and reproducibly. ‘Rapid’ injection molding is poised to meet this need as it enables some of the benefits of traditional high volume injection molding at a fraction of the cost. However, rapid injection molding has limitations due to the material and methods used for mold fabrication. Here, we characterize advantages and limitations of rapid injection molding for microfluidic device fabrication through measurement of key features for cell culture applications including channel geometry, feature consistency, floor thickness, and surface polishing. We demonstrate phase contrast and fluorescence imaging of cells grown in rapid injection molded devices and provide design recommendations to successfully utilize rapid injection molding methods for microscale cell-based assay development in academic laboratory settings.