A photo-defined membrane for precisely patterned cellular and microparticle arrays

The ability to pattern particles in well-defined arrays enhances microfluidic devices. A low-fluorescence optically transparent photo-curable resist (1002F) was characterized for use as a mechanical sieve in a microfluidic chip. Films of thickness 10 μm and 25 μm were created containing pores 6–10 μm in diameter with pitches ranging from 5–300 μm. The uniform photo-defined pores had diameters with standard deviations of 3%. Integrated with microfluidic devices, the films were used to trap polystyrene microspheres, and in a different experiment, MCF7 human epithelial adenocarcinoma cells (ATCC HTB-22). A mechanical sieve was used to trap two types of fluorescent particles and, separately MCF7 cells with NIH/3T3 murine fibroblast cells (ATCC CRL-1658) as a proof-of-concept for striated cellular co-culture.