Bridging dimensions: Combining one-and two-photon 3D printing for microfluidic device fabrication

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has been invaluable for 3D microfluidic integration. We combine high-resolution two-photon printed microfluidic features with fast one-photon printing to reduce overall fabrication time by about 20fold without compromising the accuracy of performance critical features. Alignment strategies and interface design tolerances ensure fluidic sealing and reproducible assembly between both 3D printing techniques. The resulting devices produce highly monodisperse GelMA-based foams with a polydispersity index of below 5 % and tunable bubble radii between 235 to 400 µm. Combining multiple print modalities into a unified fabrication workflow will harness efficiency gains by utilizing high precision only where necessary.