DIY Microfluidics + Parasitology Diagnostics

[Felix Maier]

DIY Microfluidics + Parasitology Diagnostics:

Does anyone have any experience with microfluidics (i.e. Homemade Microfluidics using adhesive tape and PDMS, http://wetpong.net/wetpong/?page_id=115) ?

I am very interessting in parasitology diagnostics. Are there any DIYbio projects based on microfluidics for i.e. nematode examination or other small parasitic worms? 

Looking forward to any ideas.

Thank you from Berlin, Germany

Felix

--

[Nathan McCorkle]

You can make some decent stuff with double sided adhesive tape that's been laser cutter then sandwiched between 2 pieces of clear plastic.

I've tried cutting PDMS with a commercial desktop laser cutter but the results werent great, from literature you need to cut all the way through the PDMS into the layer the PDMS is sitting on then peel off the PDMS layer to get decently smooth channel walls. Then you lay the PDMS in between 2 sheets of glass or other layers, and the other layers' surface becomes the channel bottom and top.

I'm working on DLP projector interfacing to a microscope to do DIY micro lithography. I'm also thinking about how it take a micro scale master and use a focused ion beam to make a nano features as well. FIB can get expensive, so I'm trying to do as much microscale on my own, then add the final touches for the nanoink features.  FIB is gonna be done in an industrial lab though, not DIY.

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[Marc Dusseiller]

hei guys,

i have done loads of DIY microfluidics, part for the labcourses i developed (thats the wetpong), part for creative and DIY application... see some posts on hackteria.org. i stopped updating the wetpong website, since i dont work with the students in basel anymore.

http://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_Microfluidics

we tried making our devices with our homebuilt laser cutter. works very nice. but the resolution is limited to approx 100µm. which is cool for some cell culture and flow devices. for sorting, squeezing single cell not enough.

http://hackteria.org/?p=1186

and tested it on parasitology, using the DIY microscope with the PS3 eye cam, i am also involved with some researchers in sweden, kenya and indonesia to continue these DIY activities. maybe long term EU research program. stay tuned.

http://hackteria.org/?p=1595

in kenya, we tried some of the bumper devices by the gang in lund. sorting out stuff. and we are still planning a DIY µFluidics hack-sprint as soon as possible. manchester in march was discussed...

for making diy high precision µFluidic devices, photolitho is quite good. u can also do it at home, using a dry film resist, that you iron/laminate onto glass slides to create masters for PDMS. but then i sometimes thing PDMS is overrated...

you should also look in the whole paper-based microfluidics stuff, see whitesides TED talk.

best,

marc

[Jeswin]

On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 1:18 AM, Marc Dusseiller <dus...@gmail.com> wrote:
> hei guys,
>
> i have done loads of DIY microfluidics, part for the labcourses i developed
> (thats the wetpong), part for creative and DIY application... see some posts
> on hackteria.org. i stopped updating the wetpong website, since i dont work
> with the students in basel anymore.
> http://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_Microfluidics
>

Can you give more information about the tubing and injection system?
How were they attached and what exactly did you use for materials?

I like the diy laser cutter. Really cool.

[Marc Dusseiller]

hoi zäme,

yeah, the connection between the outside and the lab-chip is one of the key challenges...

i usually use PTFE or silicon, medical grade, tubing that fits tightly on a syringe, 0.8 mm inner diameter. then punching holes into the pdms devices using one of these harris tissue punches:

http://www.tedpella.com/histo_html/unicore.htm

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/labware/labware-products.html?TablePage=17216377

with the right punches and tubes u can tightly stick them into the device.

another way to make connectors is to stick even larger silicon tubing on top of the punched devices, which then tightly seal to the tube that you stick into it.

another challenge is seaing the devices, without access to a plasma cleaner. i tested various ways, and in the end i got the best results with handheld corona discharge plasma generators:

http://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_Plasma_generators

building pumps is easy... either you can use gravitational flow. or build simple syringe pumps using hacked linear motors from old cd-drives or any other crap you get your hands on.

good luck,

marc

[AdvancedMudPieMaker]

Hello,

There is a company in Lake Havasu City in Arizona called Scientific Commodities which specializes in very small tubing of many sizes. They buy it in bulk from suppliers all over the world and sell it by the cm. They are really nice people to do business with. I usually buy sterile transfer pipettes and magnetic stir bars from them.

Good luck,

Alan

[Felix Maier]

Hi Marc ,

I will try to built the Laser Cutter ( from hackteria.org). I have an Arduino Uno, are there more instructions i.e. which cd / DVD Player is a good choice ?

I would appreciate any instructions,

Thanks, Felix

[Marc Dusseiller]

hoi zäme,

there is a lot more info on the hackteria wiki:

http://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_Micro_Dispensing_and_Bio_Printing

http://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_Micro_Laser_Cutter

doesnt really matter that drives, just whatever you get your hands on. most of them have a stepper motor, that's the ones to use. (very few use dc an gears, doesnt work to make it)

if you have access to a laser cutter, u can cut the nice parts that fit the drives and are well positioned. otherwise you can hack somethibg together yourself easily.

good luck,

marc

[Nathan McCorkle]

On Thu, Jan 31, 2013 at 9:54 PM, Marc Dusseiller <dus...@gmail.com> wrote:
> hoi zäme,
>
> there is a lot more info on the hackteria wiki:
> http://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_Micro_Dispensing_and_Bio_Printing

marc, how are you dispensing in that project? I see the syringe, but I
don't see something pushing it.

--
-Nathan

[Marc Dusseiller]

i guess it was another cd-rom drive used as a linear syringe pump.

[Gene Hacker]

On Friday, January 25, 2013 12:18:55 AM UTC-6, Marc Dusseiller wrote:

we tried making our devices with our homebuilt laser cutter. works very nice. but the resolution is limited to approx 100µm. which is cool for some cell culture and flow devices. for sorting, squeezing single cell not enough.

http://hackteria.org/?p=1186

Looks like you have sufficient resolution to build a gene synthesizer. Problem is, the chemicals involved in DNA synthesis might do a number on PDMS based devices. So you'll have to use something more solvent resistant like the elastomer PFPE, which happens to be processed in a similar manner. Though you might need an inert atmosphere to fabricate them though.


On a lighter note, you also have sufficient resolution to make the sound amplification chip for this totally steampunk fluidic gramophone, though you'll need to use resin that won't deform like PDSM. Polyester resin should do the trick. It is a high reynolds number device, so it'll be interesting to see(hear?) how well the process works.

[Patrik D'haeseleer]

Hi Marc,

We found about half the CD/DVD drives we took apart for our BioPrinter had DC motors. It would definitely be useful to be able to recognize them from the outside. But you really shouldn't be paying more than a few $ for an old drive that nobody wants anymore, so it doesn't hurt having top open up a few more.

Patrik

[Patrik D'haeseleer]

On Friday, February 1, 2013 9:30:12 PM UTC-8, Marc Dusseiller wrote:

i guess it was another cd-rom drive used as a linear syringe pump.

How easy was it to find syringes that the CD drive could push down? We tried 4-5 types that we had lying around here at BioCurious, but the stepper motor just didn't seem strong enough.

So instead we'll probably wind up buying some small steppermotors that we know are strong and precise enough. Not quite as hackerish, but hopefully a bit more reliable and repeatable.

Patrik

[Nathan McCorkle]

On Sat, Feb 2, 2013 at 8:18 PM, Gene Hacker <cam...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Looks like you have sufficient resolution to build a gene synthesizer.

You can synthesize genes in a test tube, so resolution isn't the
limit. The idea is getting small enough reactions such that you save
on reagents, but you need to also produce enough DNA such that you can
do PCR or a transformation at the end.

> Problem is, the chemicals involved in DNA synthesis might do a number on
> PDMS based devices.

There are several papers showing alternative synthesis chemistries to
get around PDMS swelling, which is mainly a problem with
organic/hydrophobic solvents.

> So you'll have to use something more solvent resistant
> like the elastomer PFPE, which happens to be processed in a similar manner.
> Though you might need an inert atmosphere to fabricate them though.

I don't know about PFPE processing, but you also need inert atmosphere
during synthesis, and you need everything to be dry from water or your
coupling efficiency will be horrible (I believe it essentially
competes with the 5' OH, since they both look the same to the
phosphoramidite ).

>
>
> On a lighter note, you also have sufficient resolution to make the sound
> amplification chip for this totally steampunk fluidic gramophone

Link to that? Sounds like it might sound cool!

--
-Nathan