Microfluidic printed circuit boards

Abstract

Recent advancement in the printed circuit board (PCB) industry has enabled the production of highly sophisticated electronic substrates at high-resolution and low production cost. These boards make an ideal platform for producing microfluidic devices for lab-on-a-chip and point-of-care applications, since such devices require a high degree of integration, something that is critically lacking in current technology. We propose an alternative approach for fabricating microfluidic devices by using PCB as a substrate to produce high precision, highly integrated microfluidic systems. We report the development of new materials (polyurethane and 1002F polymer) and techniques for successful integration of microfluidics with PCBs. Prototypes of PCB-based 1002F and polyurethane microfluidics were fabricated with electronic components embedded for integration (resistors, LEDs, temperature sensors), enabling on-board thermal control and detection, and optical imaging. In this paper, optical imaging was presented as a demonstration for such on-board functional control. Electroosmotic flow was measured in microchannels made from both materials, demonstrating the suitability of these materials for biochemical and electrochemical applications.