From Microfluidic Paper-Based Analytical Devices to Paper-Based Biofluidics with Integrated Continuous Perfusion

Abstract

As a kind of facile tool, microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) have been widely used in analytical and biomedical fields. However, because we lack the ability to control the continuous perfusion of these devices, they are not generally used in fields that require continuous flow, especially biofluidics fields such as cell culturing, drug screening, and organs on chips. In this study, we designed a novel, low-cost, and compact platform that can be used to control the continuous perfusion of μPADs. As most of the parts of this platform can be created using a three-dimensional (3D) desktop printer, our platform can be easily duplicated by other researchers. We demonstrate that with our system, μPADs can be promising paper-based biofluidic platforms for cell culturing and drug screening.