Comparison of glass etching to xurography prototyping of microfluidic channels for DNA melting analysis

Abstract

Two microchannel manufacturing methods—xurography of double-sided tape and glass etching (lithography and wet etching)—were compared using DNA melting analysis. A heterozygous mutation (3 base-pair deletion) was distinguished from wild type (normal) DNA in 10 nL (xurography and glass etching) and 1 nL (xurography) volumes. The results of the 10 nL and 1 nL melting curves were compared to results using commercial high-resolution instrumentation with 10 µL volumes. These 1000-fold and 10 000-fold volume reductions reduced the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) only 29-fold and 40-fold for xurography (10 nL and 1 nL, respectively,) and 39-fold for 10 nL glass etched microchannels, still providing adequate discrimination for mutation detection. The reduced SNR of the glass etched microchannels compared to the tape microchannels was due to the in-house bonding process which gave poor optical quality on the surface of the microchip. Xurography of double-sided tape reduces the cost by 20 fold and is four times faster to manufacture than glass etching. Microchips created using the rapid prototyping technique of xurography are a reasonable prototyping alternative to channels created using traditional glass etching for DNA mutation detection.

Three-dimensional Inspection and Characterization of Plastic Micro Mixers Fabricated by Different Packaging Techniques

“…In the last stage the tape-bonded acrylic mixer was placed in a 65 o C oven for 45 minutes to ensure good bonding between the tape and the acrylic plates. Detailed information about this micro fabrication method can be found in Greer et al's paper [5].…”

“…At present adhesive bonding and hot embossing are the popular packaging techniques for plastic micro mixers. Innovative designs and methods (e.g., [5][6][7][8][9]) have been developed to improve bonding strengths and conditions, prevent adhesives and sealing materials smeared into the mixing chamber or flow channels, facilitate the packaging process, and reduce deformation during packaging. Plasma bonding is another technique that has been applied to the packaging of plastic microchips and microfluidics fabricated from plastics as well as glass and metals.…”

“…Plasma bonding is another technique that has been applied to the packaging of plastic microchips and microfluidics fabricated from plastics as well as glass and metals. Double-sided tapes were used to bond two glass slides in Greer et al's manufacturing of microfluidic channels [5].…”

Enhanced single-cell printing by acoustophoretic cell focusing

“…Electronic mail: mirabj@mcmaster.ca 1932-1058/2015/9(2)/026501/11 V C Author(s) 2015 9, 026501-1 BIOMICROFLUIDICS 9, 026501 (2015) To overcome these limitations, non-traditional bench-top fabrication methods have been developed to prototype and fabricate micro-and nanostructured materials. 4 These approaches include techniques such as razor-blade cutting (xurography), 6,7 adhesive film masking, 8 and structuring through shape-memory polymers (SMPs), 9,10 among many others. Using these techniques, it has been possible to prototype microfluidic channels, [11][12][13] pattern thin films and surfaces, 8,14 and produce micro and nanostructured metallic surfaces [15][16][17] that have been applied mostly to Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) applications.…”

A Pmma Conductivity Pretreatment Microfluidics Device for the Optimization of Electrokinetic Manipulations

“…The protocol used to heat the chip was modeled after the process used by Greer et al [37] but modified to follow the findings of a peer in Cal Poly Biofluidics group. The settings for this protocol involved placing the clamped chip in a furnace for 20 -30 minutes at 75 degrees Celsius.…”