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3D-Printed micro-optofluidic device for chemical fluids and cells detection

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Abstract

In this work, it is presented a micro-optofluidic flow detector used for on-chip biological and chemical samples investigation. It is made in Poly-dimethyl-siloxane using a master-slave approach based on the 3D-Printing techniques. The micro-optofluidic device is made by assembling a microfluidic T-junction with a micro-optical section that consists of two optical fiber insertions and a PDMS gold-spattered micro-waveguide. The working principle in the detection is based on a different light transmission correlated to the fluid interfering with the laser beam in a micro-channel section. The proposed solution allows to realize a PDMS micro-device taking the advantage of 3D- Printing and goes beyond the restriction in the material selection. The device’s performances were tested in the fluids detection and in the evaluation of the cell concentrations. Additionally, the micro-device was used as a real-time two-phase fluids flow detector. The two-phases flows were successfully monitored in different experimental conditions, varying both hydrodynamic and optical external stimuli.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Electronic and Computer Science Engineering, University of Catania, viale A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, CT, Italy

    Fabiana Cairone, Santi Davi, Giovanna Stella & Maide Bucolo

  2. Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Science, University of Catania, viale A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, CT, Italy

    Francesca Guarino

  3. National Research Council of Italy - IPCB Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials, via Gaifami 18, 95126, Catania, CT, Italy

    Giuseppe Recca

  4. Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, viale A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, CT, Italy

    Gianluca Cicala

Authors
  1. Fabiana Cairone
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  2. Santi Davi
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  3. Giovanna Stella
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  4. Francesca Guarino
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  5. Giuseppe Recca
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  6. Gianluca Cicala
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  7. Maide Bucolo
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Correspondence to Maide Bucolo.

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Cairone, F., Davi, S., Stella, G. et al. 3D-Printed micro-optofluidic device for chemical fluids and cells detection. Biomed Microdevices 22, 37 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-020-00487-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-020-00487-3

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