I-Corps: Scalable Microfluidic Manufacturing Using Microfluidic Pressure in Paper (uPiP) Fabrication

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发超低成本。微流控制造技术，用于广泛的液体处理应用，包括疾病检测、护理点诊断和环境监测。虽然到2027年，全球微流控设备的市场规模预计将达到316亿美元，但很少有原型微流控设备成功转化为商业产品。市场渗透率低的一个原因是缺乏低成本、高生产能力的制造技术，能够弥合最初的学术和研发原型努力与大规模制造的商业需求之间的差距。这项拟议的技术旨在提供一种低成本的技术，显著降低进入微流体市场的门槛。这种技术可能使芯片实验室技术在广泛的环境、能源、制药和生物医学应用中得到广泛采用。该i-Corps项目基于开发一种能够商业规模使用的纸基、主动控制的液体处理平台。这项技术被称为纸张中的微流控压力(µPIP)。在µPIP中，使用二氧化碳(CO2)激光切割器将一张纸切割成小的液体处理通道，然后在两个薄的聚合物膜中进行叠层。先前的研究结果表明，与许多依赖被动润湿的传统纸基流体平台不同，所建议的µPIP设备能够利用外部压力主动控制流体流动。拟议的平台能够处理包括全血和原油在内的各种复杂液体，但仍能够在不修改设备的情况下大规模制造。研究工作的重点是开发能够以低成本快速制造并广泛使用的下一代纸基微流控设备。该项目将调查这项拟议的微流体制造技术可能带来的潜在好处。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of an ultra low cost. microfluidic manufacturing technology for use in a broad range of liquid handling applications, including disease detection, point-of-care diagnostics, and environmental monitoring. While the global microfluidics market size is expected to reach $31.6 billion by 2027, very few prototype microfluidic devices are successfully translated to commercial products. One reason for low market penetration is the absence of a low-cost, high throughput, manufacturing technique that can bridge the gap between initial academic and research and development prototyping efforts and the commercial requirements of manufacturing at large scales. The proposed technology aims to provide a low cost technology that significantly lowers the barrier to enter the microfluidics market. Such a technology may enable widespread adoption of lab-on-a-chip technologies across a broad range of environmental, energy, pharmaceutical, and biomedical applications.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a paper-based, actively controlled liquid handling platform capable of use at commercial scale. The technology is known as Microfluidic Pressure in Paper (µPiP). In µPiP, a sheet of paper is cut into small liquid handling channels using a carbon dioxide (CO2) laser cutter, and subsequently laminated within two thin polymer membranes. Previous results have demonstrated that, unlike many conventional paper-based fluidic platforms that rely on passive wetting, the proposed µPiP devices are capable of actively controlling fluid flow using external pressure. The proposed platform is capable of handling a wide range of complex liquids, including whole blood and crude oil, but yet capable of being manufactured at scale without device modification. The research efforts are focused on developing the next-generation of paper-based microfluidic devices that are capable of being rapidly manufactured at low-cost for widespread use. This project will investigate the potential benefits that this proposed microfluidics manufacturing technology may offer.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.