SBIR Phase II: Microfabricated Silicon Devices for Low Cost Microarray

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目提出开发一种新的，商业上可行的微加工硅技术平台，用于打印DNA微阵列，在成本和质量方面比目前的钢钉技术具有显着优势。第一阶段的努力非常清楚地证明，硅针可靠地吸收DNA打印溶液，并沉积具有比商业钢打印针更好的尺寸差异的斑点。第二阶段的工作将集中在开发一种新的微加工协议的基础上结合湿法和干法蚀刻，将允许雕刻的打印头在所有三个维度。这又将允许尖端的尺寸、形状和流体输送特性被精细地调整。打印头尺寸（范围：125微米× 125微米至25微米× 25微米）和摄取体积（范围：0至100 nL）将允许针精确地摄取和输送任何所需的体积或斑点尺寸/形状。再加上新设计的全硅保持器中密集得多的引脚，这些属性将使DNA微阵列的制造成本、速度和质量在以前是无法获得的。由于目前用于打印DNA微阵列的手工加工的钢钉的弱点（例如极高的制造成本和低的产量、差的钉与钉的均匀性、沉积的斑点尺寸的有限范围、在摄取和递送死体积中浪费有价值的DNA、以及由于快速尖端磨损而导致的存款随时间的变化），迫切需要改进的打印技术。本项目开发的新型微加工硅打印产品将在很大程度上消除这些缺点，因此，凭借其较低的成本、上级精度和速度，将很好地定位于市场进入，作为现有产品的替代品。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project proposes to develop a new, commercially viable micromachined silicon technology platform for the printing of DNA microarrays that offer significant advantages over current steel pin technology in cost and in quality. The Phase I effort demonstrated very clearly that a silicon pin reliably imbibed DNA printing solution and deposited spots with a size variance better than that of commercial steel printing pins. Phase II work will focus on the development of a new micromachining protocol based on a combination of wet and dry etching that will allow sculpting of the print tip in all three dimensions. This, in turn, will permit the size, shape and fluid delivery characteristics of the tip to be finely tuned. Printing tip sizes (range : 125 microns x 125 microns to 25 microns x 25 microns) and uptake volumes (range : 0 to 100nL) will allow the pins to precisely take up and deliver any volume or spot size/shape desired. Combined with a much denser packing of pins into a newly designed, all-silicon holder, these attributes will allow DNA microarrays to be fabricated at a cost, speed and quality previously unobtainable.The commercial application of this project is in the area of DNA microarrays. Due to the weaknesses in the current manually machined steel pins used for printing DNA microarrays (such as extremely high manufacturing costs and low yield, poor pin-to- pin uniformity, the limited range of spot sizes deposited, waste of valuable DNA in uptake and delivery dead volumes, and deposit variability with time due to rapid tip wear), there is an urgent need for an improved printing technology. The new micromachined silicon printing product to be developed in this project will largely eliminate these drawbacks, and therefore will be well positioned for market entry as a replacement for existing products by virtue of its lower cost, superior accuracy and speed.