title: Rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices with a wax printer.
abstract: We demonstrate a rapid and inexpensive approach for the fabrication of high resolution poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based microfluidic devices. The complete process of fabrication could be performed in several hours (or less) without any specialized equipment other than a consumer-grade wax printer. The channels produced by this method are of high enough quality that we are able to demonstrate the sizing and separation of DNA fragments using capillary electrophoresis (CE) with no apparent loss of resolution over that found with glass chips fabricated by conventional photolithographic methods. We believe that this method will greatly improve the accessibility of rapid prototyping methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, CanadaT6G 2V4.
authors.forename: Govind V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Kaigala
authors.forename: Sunny
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Roel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Penterman
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Backhouse
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D042361:Mammary Glands, Human / Q000166:cytology*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation*