title: Foil assisted replica molding for fabrication of microfluidic devices and their application in vitro.
abstract: We present a simple, rapid, benchtop, Foil Assisted Rapid Molding (FARM) method for the fabrication of microfluidic devices. This novel technique involves the use of aluminium foil, pen and an X-Y plotter to create semi-circular or plano-concave, shallow microchannels. It is an easy do-it-yourself (DIY) technique for creating a microfluidic device in three simple steps: (1) create a channel design using the CAD software, (2) plot the patterns on aluminium foil and (3) use the reverse of the engraved foil as a mold to create microfluidic devices. In this report, we present a detailed study of the proposed method by varying a range of parameters such as foil thickness, tip material, and tip sizes and by investigating their effect on the creation of channels with varying geometry. Furthermore, we demonstrated the cytocompatibility of these devices in vitro.
authors.affiliation: CSIR - Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Habsiguda, Uppal Road, Hyderabad - 500 007, Telangana, India. aa@ccmb.res.in mohan@ccmb.res.in.
authors.forename: Issac J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Micheal
authors.forename: Aditya J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Vidyasagar
authors.forename: Kiran Kumar
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Bokara
authors.forename: Naveen Kumar
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Mekala
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asthana
authors.forename: Ch Mohan
authors.initials: ChM
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000295:instrumentation; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D000535:Aluminum