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Project

PRIMO: an innovative platform to boost the development of microsystems in diagnostic, therapeutic and life science research applications

In recent years, microfluidic chips have proven to be of paramount importance in life science research, as they enable to investigate biological questions on the micro- and nanometer scale. Recent efforts to make microfluidics accessible to a variety of research activities resulted in an out-of-the-cleanroom softlithobox facility in the lab of Prof. Lammertyn. This application concerns the acquisition of PRIMO, a system that provides the missing link to this facility to engineer custom structures and patterns at the micrometer scale with high flexibility and reproducibility. This unique UV based system enables (1) fast and complex microstructuring of UV-sensitive resists or hydrogels, (2) high-resolution surface micropatterning of biomolecules and (3) the combined action of 1 and 2 in a single device, rendering this setup highly versatile and imperative to exploit microfluidic devices to their full potential. As such, PRIMO will boost the development of high-end devices for the next generation of diagnostic and therapeutic tools, and for the investigation of pertinent biological questions in life science research.
Date:1 Jan 2021 →  31 Dec 2022
Keywords:Microfabrication, Micropatterning, Microfluidics, Photolithography, Hydrogel, Protein patterning
Disciplines:Microfabrication and manufacturing, Microfluidics/flow chemistry, Cellular interactions and extracellular matrix, Biomedical instrumentation, Device biomechanics, General diagnostics, Embryology, Developmental neuroscience