Rapid fabrication of sieved microwells and cross-flow microparticle trapping

The use of microwells is popular for a wide range of applications due to its’ simplicity. However, the seeding of conventional microwells, which are closed at the bottom, is restricted to gravitational sedimentation for cell or particle deposition and therefore require lengthy settling times to maximize well occupancy. The addition of microfluidics to the capture process has accelerated cell or particle dispersion and improved capture ability but is mostly limited to gravitationally-driven settling for capture into the wells. An alternative approach to conventional closed-microwells, sieved microwells supersedes reliance on gravity by using hydrodynamic forces through the open pores at the bottom of the microwells to draw targets into the wells. We have developed a rapid fabrication method, based on flow lithography techniques, which allows us to easily customize the mesh pore sizes in a simple two-step process. Finally, by combining this microwell design with cross-flow trapping in a microfluidic two-layered channel, we achieve an 88 ± 6% well occupancy in under 10 s.