Rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices for biophotonic applications

The ability to fabricate your own microfluidic devices provides flexibility to alter the exact design of the device as the project develops. Here we present a concise fabrication process of reusable microscope-compatible microfluidic devices for biophotonic applications. The method requires commonly available components, such as a 3D printer or 3D pen, heat plate, sonicator, PDMS, and acetone. For high NA objective’s measurements, a cover glass can be inserted and replaced from the main microfluidic chamber. For our studies of the controlled bacterial biofilm formation, a laser beam is also delivered from the side of the microfluidic device with a fiber-coupled laser or from the bottom through an objective.