A Multi-layer Technology for Biocompatible Polymer Microsystems with Integrated Fluid and Electrical Functionality
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A Multi-layer Technology for Biocompatible Polymer Microsystems with Integrated Fluid and Electrical Functionality Eileen D. Moss, Arum Han, and A. Bruno Frazier School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology 791 Atlantic Dr., Atlanta, GA 30332, U.S.A. ABSTRACT A method to fabricate biocompatible polymer microfluidic systems with integrated electrical and fluid functionality has been established. The process flow utilizes laser ablation, microstenciling, and heat staking as the techniques to realize multi-layered polyimide based microsystems with microchannels, thru and embedded fluid / electrical vias, and metallic electrodes and contact pads. As an application of the fabrication technology, a six layer multifunctional cellular analysis system has been demonstrated. The electrophysiological analysis system contains fluid microchannel / via networks for cell positioning and chemical delivery as well as electrical detectors and electrodes for impedance spectroscopy and patch clamping studies. Multiple layers of 50.8µm thick Kapton® sheets with double-sided polyimide adhesive layers were used as the primary material-of-construction. Microchannels with widths of 400µm as well as thru hole vias with 3.71µm diameters (aspect ratios of over 12:1) were laser ablated through the polyimide sheets using an excimer laser and a CO2 laser. Electrical traces and contact pads with features down to 20µm were defined on the flexible polyimide sheets using microstenciling. The patterned layers were bonded using heat staking at a temperature of 350°C, a pressure of 1.65MPa for 60 minutes. This multi-layer technology can be used to create microfluidic devices for many application areas requiring biocompatibility, relatively high temperature operation, or a flexible substrate material. INTRODUCTION Integrated micro total analysis systems capable of performing complex bio-analysis testing require the inclusion of multiple bio-analytical functions. As the number of integrated bioanalytical functions increases, so does the amount of substrate surface area required to accommodate these functionalities. Increasing the substrate surface area quickly becomes an issue with regards to overall substrate size and the fabrication process equipment necessary to accommodate the substrates. Currently, there are two solutions to this problem. The first is the use of a hybrid multi-chip approach in which system functionalities are divided between multiple chips and the chips connected electrically and fluidically using lead wires and capillary tubing. This approach is flexible, but inherently leads to significant system fluid dead volumes and challenges with electrical interconnections between chips. The second approach is to use multilayer technologies in which the microsystem consists of functional layers aligned and bonded together. The multi-layer approach leads to an integrated monolithic bio-analysis system with lower fluid dead volumes and less complex packaging issues. The primary technological hurdles wi
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