Evolution of 3d printing technology in fabrication of microfluidic devices and biological applications: a comprehensive review

Abstract

Lab-on-a-chip or LOC is a term that is used to describe microfluidic devices that integrate multiple analyte detection, which are normally carried out in a laboratory, into one micro-chip unit and may have applications in diverse fields such as electronics, medicine and biomedical domains. Even though microfluidics has advanced greatly during the past decade due to increased needs for portability, reduced sample requirement and multiple analyte detection capabilities biological research has not adopted the technology at the required pace. This may be owing to the time-consuming and expensive process involved in the microfabrication of biochips, the requirement of specialised setup facilities and the extremely high cost associated with microfluidics as compared to conventional technologies. In recent years, three-dimensional (3D) printing has piqued curiosity in the scientific community. It has the potential to create complex, high-resolution structures and that too in a short timeframe depending upon device complexity. This could inspire progressive research in microfluidics, particularly finding applications in biomedical engineering and point-of-care diagnostics. This article gives an overview of how 3D printing aids in the manufacture of microfluidic devices for biological applications, as well as the existing 3D printing methods which are utilised for fabrication and the future perspective in the development of microfluidic devices.