Using 3D printing to fabricate microfluidic chips for biosensing applications

¹ Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, South Africa
² Biophotonics, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa
³ School of Chemistry and Physics, University of Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

Abstract

This paper gives details on the use of 3D smart printing technology to fabricate microfluidic chips for integration into biosensors for the detection and diagnosis of diseases. Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is a process used to create complex, three-dimensional objects by adding layer upon layer of material until the desired shape is formed. Microfluidic chips are used to manipulate fluids through separation and mixing. Conventional microfluidic chip fabrication methods are expensive, require much experience to operate, and are time consuming, while 3D printing offers a solution to these challenges. The 3D printing technique prints models designed using a computer-aided design software such as Autodesk Fusion 360. In this work the authors show example microfluidic chips which were printed using a 3D printer, these include an X-channel chip, Y-channel chip and a lateral flow chip which can all be integrated with biosensing setups.