Leveraging Stereolithography-enabled 3D Printing for Biomimetic Microfluidic Advancements

[摘要] This thesis represents three major efforts in applying microscale additive manufacturing to address bioengineering applications. Additive manufacturing entails using basic building blocks to construct the three-dimensional structure of a device, affording rapid prototyping and lower costs in research and development. Here, a digital light processor (DLP) based stereolithography 3D printing system is leveraged to achieve microscale resolutions for devices. The first application creates microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) geometries for biosensors and biomimetic optics. The second application is to realize an integrated micro Tesla (µTesla) pump in a microfluidic platform. The third application is to optimize the fluid-surface coupling in the µTesla rotors to pump differential viscosities, including shear-thinning viscosities. These efforts span across Biosensors, Biomicrofluidics, and Biotransport and demonstrate 3D printing as a key enabling technology to improve bioengineering instrumentation. In the first part, MEMS interface with biology to create simplistic models of complex natural phenomena. In this work, 3D printing is used to create a microscale fabrication platform for carbon nanotube (CNT) proliferation. In a parallel work, the 3D printing aids in defining microoptic dimensions of a biomimetic compound eye element previously unattainable via traditional fabrication. In the second part, studies of biological phenomena can be augmented by microfluidic devices to model native physiological conditions at the microscale level. When studying the effect of shear stress and transport on beta cells in diabetes mechanisms, the need for an integrated, microscale flow source arose. This work introduces the µTesla pump as a flow source for lab-on-a-chip (LOC) applications. The experimental results demonstrate the µTesla pump’s capacity to generate highly controllable shear stress. Moreover, this work demonstrates the ability to fine-tune 3D printed surface characteristics to optimize pressure output of the system.Lastly, the pump’s capability to pump blood analog fluids is analyzed. Pumping of shear thinning fluid is investigated. This portion of the thesis aims to define the parameters of biofluids both from device perspective as well as pathophysiological perspectives through experimentation and modeling. Understanding gained in this thesis should help to model blood shear at the capillary level, a model for a number of diabetes and cardiovascular related diseases.

[发布机构] University of Michigan

[效力级别] Biosensor

[关键词] Microfluidics;Biosensor;Cardiovascular;Stereolithography;3D printing;Tesla pump;Biomimetic;Biomedical engineering;Bioengineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science