Abstract

High Resolution 3D Printing Inside a Chip

Aleksandr Ovsianikov, Professor, Additive Manufacturing Technologies, Technische Universität Wien

3D printing opens exciting perspectives towards rapid engineering of complex 3D structures for microfluidic applications. In this context, multiphoton lithography (MPL) is an outstanding approach, since photosensitive material formulations and cells are delivered by perfusing the channels, thus enabling 3D printing within already assembled microfluidic chips. The latter aspects implies that different materials, construct geometries and cell types can be tested with the same set of chips without changing their initial design or fabrication process. In addition MPL offers high spatial resolution, unmatched by other 3D printing approaches, and can produce features down to sub-100 nm level directly in the volume of the material, without the necessity to deposit it layer by layer. An increasing portfolio of available materials enables utilization of the versatile capabilities of MPL, from producing complex volumetric 3D structures by means of cross-linking, to creating void patters within hydrogels already containing living cells. In this contribution, our recent progress on MPL for microfluidic applications and the development of according materials will be presented.