scholarly journals Rapid fabrication by digital light processing 3D printing of a SlipChip with movable ports for local delivery to ex vivo organ cultures

Author(s):  
Megan Catterton ◽  
Alexander Ball ◽  
Rebecca Pompano
Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 993
Author(s):  
Megan A Catterton ◽  
Alexander G Ball ◽  
Rebecca R Pompano

SlipChips are two-part microfluidic devices that can be reconfigured to change fluidic pathways for a wide range of functions, including tissue stimulation. Currently, fabrication of these devices at the prototype stage requires a skilled microfluidic technician, e.g., for wet etching or alignment steps. In most cases, SlipChip functionality requires an optically clear, smooth, and flat surface that is fluorophilic and hydrophobic. Here, we tested digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing, which is rapid, reproducible, and easily shared, as a solution for fabrication of SlipChips at the prototype stage. As a case study, we sought to fabricate a SlipChip intended for local delivery to live tissue slices through a movable microfluidic port. The device was comprised of two multi-layer components: an enclosed channel with a delivery port and a culture chamber for tissue slices with a permeable support. Once the design was optimized, we demonstrated its function by locally delivering a chemical probe to slices of hydrogel and to living tissue with up to 120 µm spatial resolution. By establishing the design principles for 3D printing of SlipChip devices, this work will enhance the ability to rapidly prototype such devices at mid-scale levels of production.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey Pustovarenko ◽  
Beatriz Seoane ◽  
Edy Abou-Hamad ◽  
Helen E King ◽  
Bert Weckhuysen ◽  
...  

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing technology, has greatly expanded across multiple sectors of technology replacing classical manufacturing methods by combining processing speed and high precision. The scientific interest...


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah B. Musgrove ◽  
Megan A. Catterton ◽  
Rebecca R. Pompano

Stereolithographic (SL) 3D printing, especially digital light processing (DLP) printing, is a promising rapid fabrication method for bio-microfluidic applications such as clinical tests, lab-on-a-chip devices, and sensor integrated devices. The benefits of 3D printing lead many to believe this fabrication method will accelerate the use of bioanalytical microfluidics, but there are major obstacles to overcome to fully utilize this technology. For commercially available printing materials, this includes challenges in producing prints with the print resolution and mechanical stability required for a particular design, along with cytotoxic components within many SL resins and low optical compatibility for imaging experiments. Potential solutions to these problems are scattered throughout the literature and rarely available in head-to-head comparisons. Therefore, we present here principles for navigation of 3D printing techniques and systematic tests to inform resin selection and optimization of the design and fabrication of SL 3D printed bio-microfluidic devices.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 822
Author(s):  
Jy-Jiunn Tzeng ◽  
Tzu-Sen Yang ◽  
Wei-Fang Lee ◽  
Hsuan Chen ◽  
Hung-Ming Chang

In this study, five urethane acrylates (UAs), namely aliphatic urethane hexa-acrylate (87A), aromatic urethane hexa-acrylate (88A), aliphatic UA (588), aliphatic urethane triacrylate diluted in 15% HDD (594), and high-functional aliphatic UA (5812), were selected to formulate five UA-based photopolymer resins for digital light processing (DLP)-based 3D printing. Each UA (40 wt%) was added and blended homogenously with ethoxylated pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (40 wt%), isobornyl acrylate (12 wt%), diphenyl (2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide (3 wt%), and a pink acrylic (5 wt%). Each UA-based resin specimen was designed using CAD software and fabricated using a DLP 3D printer to specific dimensions. Characteristics, mechanical properties, and cytotoxicity levels of these designed UA-based resins were investigated and compared with a commercial 3D printing denture base acrylic resin (BB base) control group at different UV exposure times. Shore hardness-measurement data and MTT assays were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni’s post hoc test, whereas viscosity, maximum strength, and modulus were analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis test (α = 0.05). UA-based photopolymer resins with tunable mechanical properties were successfully prepared by replacing the UA materials and the UV exposure times. After 15 min of UV exposure, the 5812 and 594 groups exhibited higher viscosities, whereas the 88A and 87A groups exhibited lower viscosities compared with the BB base group. Maximum flexural strength, flexural modulus, and Shore hardness values also revealed significant differences among materials (p < 0.001). Based on MTT assay results, the UA-based photopolymer resins were nontoxic. In the present study, mechanical properties of the designed photopolymer resins could be adjusted by changing the UA or UV exposure time, suggesting that aliphatic urethane acrylate has good potential for use in the design of printable resins for DLP-type 3D printing in dental applications.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kankan Swargiary ◽  
Romuald Jolivot ◽  
Waleed Soliman Mohammed

AbstractA polymer based horizontal single step waveguide for the sensing of alcohol is developed and analyzed. The waveguide is fabricated by 3-dimensional (3D) printing digital light processing (DLP) technology using monocure 3D rapid ultraviolet (UV) clear resin with a refractive index of n = 1.50. The fabricated waveguide is a one-piece tower shaped ridge structure. It is designed to achieve the maximum light confinement at the core by reducing the effective refractive index around the cladding region. With the surface roughness generated from the 3D printing DLP technology, various waveguides with different gap sizes are printed. Comparison is done for the different gap waveguides to achieve the minimum feature gap size utilizing the light re-coupling principle and polymer swelling effect. This effect occurs due to the polymer-alcohol interaction that results in the diffusion of alcohol molecules inside the core of the waveguide, thus changing the waveguide from the leaky type (without alcohol) to the guided type (with alcohol). Using this principle, the analysis of alcohol concentration performing as a larger increase in the transmitted light intensity can be measured. In this work, the sensitivity of the system is also compared and analyzed for different waveguide gap sizes with different concentrations of isopropanol alcohol (IPA). A waveguide gap size of 300 µm gives the highest increase in the transmitted optical power of 65% when tested with 10 µL (500 ppm) concentration of IPA. Compared with all other gaps, it also displays faster response time (t = 5 seconds) for the optical power to change right after depositing IPA in the chamber. The measured limit of detection (LOD) achieved for 300 µm is 0.366 µL. In addition, the fabricated waveguide gap of 300 µm successfully demonstrates the sensing limit of IPA concentration below 400 ppm which is considered as an exposure limit by “National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health”. All the mechanical mount and the alignments are done by 3D printing fused deposition method (FDM).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Liu ◽  
Jiaming Hu ◽  
Yusheng Shi ◽  
Chenyang Zhou ◽  
Yunfei Sun ◽  
...  

Abstract To improve electrical properties of BaTiO3 piezoelectric ceramics fabricated by 3D printing, effects of particle sizes was investigated on rheological and curing properties of ceramic slurries, electrical properties of BaTiO3 fabricated by Digital Light Processing 3D printing method. It was found that the curing ability of ceramic slurries decreased first and then increased with the increase of particle size from 136 nm to 1486 nm, while the viscosity of the slurries kept decreasing. When the particle size in a range of submicron, the grain size of sintered ceramics decreased from 13.27 μm to 6.84 μm as particle size increasing. Immediately, the relative density, piezoelectric constant, relative permittivity and remanent polarization of sintered ceramics were measured and it turns out to reach 95.32%, 161.4 pC/N, 1512 and 7.59 uC/cm2 respectively while using the BaTiO3 powder with particle sizes of 993 nm. Finally, a cellular structural BaTiO3 ceramics was fabricated by using optimized powder and process parameters and packaged as a piezoelectric sensor, showing a good function of force-electricity conversion. These results demonstrated the feasibility of fabricating high-quality functional ceramics with designed geometry by Digital Light Processing.


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