Rapid fabrication of PMMA/PET-E/PMMA for thermoplastic microfluidic membrane devices

Abstract

We present a method to rapidly fabricate a large number of thermoplastic microfluidic systems where horizontal microchannels are separated by a porous membrane for modelling biological barriers. We optimize and combine solvent bonding, milling and laser cutting to fabricate in excess of 100 devices in two days. The optimized protocol relies on a commercial solvent blend, retention grooves for solvent distribution, and force application to create strong, leak-free bonds. The devices are evaluated for suitability for modelling biological barriers by culturing endothelial cells and measuring permeability using a plate reader