scholarly journals 3D Printed Microfluidics

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna V. Nielsen ◽  
Michael J. Beauchamp ◽  
Gregory P. Nordin ◽  
Adam T. Woolley

Traditional microfabrication techniques suffer from several disadvantages, including the inability to create truly three-dimensional (3D) architectures, expensive and time-consuming processes when changing device designs, and difficulty in transitioning from prototyping fabrication to bulk manufacturing. 3D printing is an emerging technique that could overcome these disadvantages. While most 3D printed fluidic devices and features to date have been on the millifluidic size scale, some truly microfluidic devices have been shown. Currently, stereolithography is the most promising approach for routine creation of microfluidic structures, but several approaches under development also have potential. Microfluidic 3D printing is still in an early stage, similar to where polydimethylsiloxane was two decades ago. With additional work to advance printer hardware and software control, expand and improve resin and printing material selections, and realize additional applications for 3D printed devices, we foresee 3D printing becoming the dominant microfluidic fabrication method.

Author(s):  
Yunus Alapan ◽  
Muhammad Noman Hasan ◽  
Richang Shen ◽  
Umut A. Gurkan

Microfluidic platforms offer revolutionary and practical solutions to challenging problems in biology and medicine. Even though traditional micro/nanofabrication technologies expedited the emergence of the microfluidics field, recent advances in advanced additive manufacturing hold significant potential for single-step, stand-alone microfluidic device fabrication. One such technology, which holds a significant promise for next generation microsystem fabrication is three-dimensional (3D) printing. Presently, building 3D printed stand-alone microfluidic devices with fully embedded microchannels for applications in biology and medicine has the following challenges: (i) limitations in achievable design complexity, (ii) need for a wider variety of transparent materials, (iii) limited z-resolution, (iv) absence of extremely smooth surface finish, and (v) limitations in precision fabrication of hollow and void sections with extremely high surface area to volume ratio. We developed a new way to fabricate stand-alone microfluidic devices with integrated manifolds and embedded microchannels by utilizing a 3D printing and laser micromachined lamination based hybrid manufacturing approach. In this new fabrication method, we exploit the minimized fabrication steps enabled by 3D printing, and reduced assembly complexities facilitated by laser micromachined lamination method. The new hybrid fabrication method enables key features for advanced microfluidic system architecture: (i) increased design complexity in 3D, (ii) improved control over microflow behavior in all three directions and in multiple layers, (iii) transverse multilayer flow and precisely integrated flow distribution, and (iv) enhanced transparency for high resolution imaging and analysis. Hybrid manufacturing approaches hold great potential in advancing microfluidic device fabrication in terms of standardization, fast production, and user-independent manufacturing.


Author(s):  
C. Wang ◽  
S. Chandra ◽  
X. P. Tan ◽  
S. B. Tor

Micro-fluidic devices are essential to handle fluids on the micro-meter scale (micro-scale), making them crucial to biomedical applications, where micro-gear is the key component for active fluid mixing. Rapid and direct fabrication of micro-gears is preferred because they are usually custom-made to specific applications and iterative design is needed. However, conventional manufacturing (CM) techniques for micro-fluidic devices are labor-intensive and time-consuming as multiple steps are required. Three-dimensional (3D) printing, or formally known as additive manufacturing (AM) offers a promising alternative over CM techniques in producing near-net shape complex geometries, given the micro-scale fabrication process. In this work, two types of powder-bed fusion (PBF) AM techniques, namely laser-PBF (L-PBF) and electron beam-PBF (EB-PBF) are used to benchmark 3D-printed micro-gears from stainless steel 316L micro-granular powders. Results showcase the preeminence of L-PBF over EB-PBF in generating distinguishable micro-scale features on gear profiles and superior micro-hardness in mechanical property. Overall, PBF metal AM shows significant promise in advancing the otherwise tedious state of CM for micro-gears.


Micromachines ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Savas Tasoglu ◽  
Albert Folch

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has revolutionized the microfabrication prototyping workflow over the past few years. [...]


Micromachines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeraatkar ◽  
Filippini ◽  
Percoco

A wide variety of 3D printing technologies have been used for the fabrication of lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices in recent years. Despite the large number of studies having examined the use of 3D printing technologies in microfluidic devices, the effect of the fabrication method on their performance has received little attention. In this paper, a comparison is shown between unibody-LOC micro-mixers, a particular type of monolithic design for 3D printed LOCs, fabricated in polyjet, stereolithography (SLA) and fused deposition modelling (FDM or FFF) platforms, paying particular attention to the inherent limitations of each fabrication platform and how these affect the performance of the manufactured devices.


Author(s):  
Yanyan Ma ◽  
Peng Ding ◽  
Lanlan Li ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Ping Jin ◽  
...  

AbstractHeart diseases remain the top threat to human health, and the treatment of heart diseases changes with each passing day. Convincing evidence shows that three-dimensional (3D) printing allows for a more precise understanding of the complex anatomy associated with various heart diseases. In addition, 3D-printed models of cardiac diseases may serve as effective educational tools and for hands-on simulation of surgical interventions. We introduce examples of the clinical applications of different types of 3D printing based on specific cases and clinical application scenarios of 3D printing in treating heart diseases. We also discuss the limitations and clinically unmet needs of 3D printing in this context.


Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Yanting Han ◽  
Qianqian Wei ◽  
Pengbo Chang ◽  
Kehui Hu ◽  
Oseweuba Valentine Okoro ◽  
...  

Hydroxyapatite (HA) and HA-based nanocomposites have been recognized as ideal biomaterials in hard tissue engineering because of their compositional similarity to bioapatite. However, the traditional HA-based nanocomposites fabrication techniques still limit the utilization of HA in bone, cartilage, dental, applications, and other fields. In recent years, three-dimensional (3D) printing has been shown to provide a fast, precise, controllable, and scalable fabrication approach for the synthesis of HA-based scaffolds. This review therefore explores available 3D printing technologies for the preparation of porous HA-based nanocomposites. In the present review, different 3D printed HA-based scaffolds composited with natural polymers and/or synthetic polymers are discussed. Furthermore, the desired properties of HA-based composites via 3D printing such as porosity, mechanical properties, biodegradability, and antibacterial properties are extensively explored. Lastly, the applications and the next generation of HA-based nanocomposites for tissue engineering are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-69
Author(s):  
Amirhosein Fathi ◽  
Farzad Kermani ◽  
Aliasghar Behnamghader ◽  
Sara Banijamali ◽  
Masoud Mozafari ◽  
...  

AbstractOver the last years, three-dimensional (3D) printing has been successfully applied to produce suitable substitutes for treating bone defects. In this work, 3D printed composite scaffolds of polycaprolactone (PCL) and strontium (Sr)- and cobalt (Co)-doped multi-component melt-derived bioactive glasses (BGs) were prepared for bone tissue engineering strategies. For this purpose, 30% of as-prepared BG particles (size <38 μm) were incorporated into PCL, and then the obtained composite mix was introduced into a 3D printing machine to fabricate layer-by-layer porous structures with the size of 12 × 12 × 2 mm3.The scaffolds were fully characterized through a series of physico-chemical and biological assays. Adding the BGs to PCL led to an improvement in the compressive strength of the fabricated scaffolds and increased their hydrophilicity. Furthermore, the PCL/BG scaffolds showed apatite-forming ability (i.e., bioactivity behavior) after being immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF). The in vitro cellular examinations revealed the cytocompatibility of the scaffolds and confirmed them as suitable substrates for the adhesion and proliferation of MG-63 osteosarcoma cells. In conclusion, 3D printed composite scaffolds made of PCL and Sr- and Co-doped BGs might be potentially-beneficial bone replacements, and the achieved results motivate further research on these materials.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Benedikt Mietner ◽  
Xuehe Jiang ◽  
Ulrica Edlund ◽  
Bodo Saake ◽  
Julien R. G. Navarro

AbstractIn this work, we present an approach to cross-link cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) with various metallic cations (Fe3+, Al3+, Ca2+, and Mg2+) to produce inks suitable for three-dimensional (3D) printing application. The printability of each hydrogel ink was evaluated, and several parameters such as the optimal ratio of Mn+:TOCNF:H2O were discussed. CNF suspensions were produced by mechanical disintegration of cellulose pulp with a microfluidizer and then oxidized with 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO). Finally, metal cations were introduced to the deprotonated TEMPO-oxidized CNF (TOCNF) suspension to cross-link the nanofibrils and form the corresponding hydrogels. The performances of each gel-ink were evaluated by rheological measurements and 3D printing. Only the gels incorporated with divalent cations Ca2+ and Mg2+ were suitable for 3D printing. The 3D printed structures were freeze-dried and characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The better interaction of the TOCNFs with the divalent metallic cations in terms of printability, the viscoelastic properties of the inks, and the variation trends owing to various metal cations and ratios are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sapam Ningthemba Singh ◽  
Vavilada Satya Swamy Venkatesh ◽  
Ashish Bhalchandra Deoghare

Purpose During the COVID-19 pandemic, the three-dimensional (3D) printing community is actively participating to address the supply chain gap of essential medical supplies such as face masks, face shields, door adapters, test swabs and ventilator valves. This paper aims to present a comprehensive study on the role of 3D printing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, its safety and its challenges. Design/methodology/approach This review paper focuses on the applications of 3D printing in the fight against COVID-19 along with the safety and challenges associated with 3D printing to fight COVID-19. The literature presented in this paper is collected from the journal indexing engines including Scopus, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, PubMed, Web of Science, etc. The main keywords used for searches were 3D printing COVID-19, Safety of 3D printed parts, Sustainability of 3D printing, etc. Further possible iterations of the keywords were used to collect the literature. Findings The applications of 3D printing in the fight against COVID-19 are 3D printed face masks, shields, ventilator valves, test swabs, drug deliveries and hands-free door adapters. As most of these measures are implemented hastily, the safety and reliability of these parts often lacked approval. The safety concerns include the safety of the printed parts, operators and secondary personnel such as the workers in material preparation and transportation. The future challenges include sustainability of the process, long term supply chain, intellectual property and royalty-free models, etc. Originality/value This paper presents a comprehensive study on the applications of 3D printing in the fight against COVID-19 with emphasis on the safety and challenges in it.


Author(s):  
Azar Maalouf ◽  
Ronan Gingat ◽  
Vincent Laur

This study examines K-band rectangular waveguide terminations with three-dimensional (3D)-printed loads, and proposes an Asymmetrical Tapered Wedge topology. This geometry shows a good tradeoff between microwave performance and 3D-printing issues (printing directions and support material requirements), thus improving noticeably the reproducibility of the devices. The effect of the density of the 3D-printed load on the reflection parameter of the termination was investigated. Even for a low density, reflection level remained below −27.5 dB between 18 and 26.5 GHz. Reproducibility was demonstrated by the characterization of six loads that were 3D printed under the same conditions. Measurements demonstrate that a maximum reflection parameter level of −33.5 dB can be ensured over the whole frequency band without any post-machining of the 3D-printed devices.


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