Polymer Coatings in 3D-Printed Fluidic Device Channels
for Improved Cellular Adherence Prior to Electrical Lysis
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Abstract
This
paper describes the design and fabrication of a polyjet-based three-dimensional
(3D)-printed fluidic device where poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) or
polystyrene (PS) were used to coat the sides of a fluidic channel
within the device to promote adhesion of an immobilized cell layer.
The device was designed using computer-aided design software and converted
into an .STL file prior to printing. The rigid, transparent material
used in the printing process provides an optically transparent path
to visualize endothelial cell adherence and supports integration of
removable electrodes for electrical cell lysis in a specified portion
of the channel (1 mm width × 0.8 mm height × 2 mm length).
Through manipulation of channel geometry, a low-voltage power source
(500 V max) was used to selectively lyse adhered endothelial cells
in a tapered region of the channel. Cell viability was maintained
on the device over a 5 day period (98% viable), though cell coverage
decreased after day 4 with static media delivery. Optimal lysis potentials
were obtained for the two fabricated device geometries, and selective
cell clearance was achieved with cell lysis efficiencies of 94 and
96%. The bottleneck of unknown surface properties from proprietary
resin use in fabricating 3D-printed materials is overcome through
techniques to incorporate PDMS and PS