Abstract
New fabrication methods and materials are key for next-generation Organ-on-a-Chip (OoC) systems. We present a low-cost manufacturing methods of a multilayer, whole-thermoplastic, active-pumping and open-source OoC platform. Fabrication uses conventional CO2 laser cutting for structuring, spin-coating to generate a flexible film and thermal bonding to laminate all parts together. UV treatment with an Excimer lamp prior to bonding drastically improves the bonding quality. Optimized bonding parameters were characterized by measuring the burst load upon applying pressure and via profilometer-based measurement of channel deformation. Next, flow and long-term stability of the chip layout were measured using micro-Particle-Image-Velocimetry (uPIV). Finally, human endothelial cells were seeded in the microchannels to check biocompatibility and flow-directed cell alignment. The presented device is compatible with a real-time live-cell analysis system.