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A Scalable, Modular Degasser for Passive In-Line Removal of Bubbles from Biomicrofluidic Devices

Bubbles are a common cause of microfluidic malfunction, as they can perturb the fluid flow within the micro-sized features of a device. Since gas bubbles form easily within warm cell culture reagents, degassing is often necessary for biomicrofluidic systems. However, fabrication of a microscale dega...

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Autores principales: Musgrove, Hannah B., Saleheen, Amirus, Zatorski, Jonathan M., Arneja, Abhinav, Luckey, Chance John, Pompano, Rebecca R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9964747/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36838135
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi14020435
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author Musgrove, Hannah B.
Saleheen, Amirus
Zatorski, Jonathan M.
Arneja, Abhinav
Luckey, Chance John
Pompano, Rebecca R.
author_facet Musgrove, Hannah B.
Saleheen, Amirus
Zatorski, Jonathan M.
Arneja, Abhinav
Luckey, Chance John
Pompano, Rebecca R.
author_sort Musgrove, Hannah B.
collection PubMed
description Bubbles are a common cause of microfluidic malfunction, as they can perturb the fluid flow within the micro-sized features of a device. Since gas bubbles form easily within warm cell culture reagents, degassing is often necessary for biomicrofluidic systems. However, fabrication of a microscale degasser that can be used modularly with pre-existing chips may be cumbersome or challenging, especially for labs not equipped for traditional microfabrication, and current commercial options can be expensive. Here, we address the need for an affordable, accessible bubble trap that can be used in-line for continuous perfusion of organs-on-chip and other microfluidic cultures. We converted a previously described, manually fabricated PDMS degasser to allow scaled up, reproducible manufacturing by commercial machining or fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing. After optimization, the machined and 3D printed degassers were found to be stable for >2 weeks under constant perfusion, without leaks. With a ~140 µL chamber volume, trapping capacity was extrapolated to allow for ~5–20 weeks of degassing depending on the rate of bubble formation. The degassers were biocompatible for use with cell culture, and they successfully prevented bubbles from reaching a downstream microfluidic device. Both degasser materials showed little to no leaching. The machined degasser did not absorb reagents, while the FDM printed degasser absorbed a small amount, and both maintained fluidic integrity from 1 µL/min to >1 mL/min of pressure-driven flow. Thus, these degassers can be fabricated in bulk and allow for long-term, efficient bubble removal in a simple microfluidic perfusion set-up.
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spelling pubmed-99647472023-02-26 A Scalable, Modular Degasser for Passive In-Line Removal of Bubbles from Biomicrofluidic Devices Musgrove, Hannah B. Saleheen, Amirus Zatorski, Jonathan M. Arneja, Abhinav Luckey, Chance John Pompano, Rebecca R. Micromachines (Basel) Article Bubbles are a common cause of microfluidic malfunction, as they can perturb the fluid flow within the micro-sized features of a device. Since gas bubbles form easily within warm cell culture reagents, degassing is often necessary for biomicrofluidic systems. However, fabrication of a microscale degasser that can be used modularly with pre-existing chips may be cumbersome or challenging, especially for labs not equipped for traditional microfabrication, and current commercial options can be expensive. Here, we address the need for an affordable, accessible bubble trap that can be used in-line for continuous perfusion of organs-on-chip and other microfluidic cultures. We converted a previously described, manually fabricated PDMS degasser to allow scaled up, reproducible manufacturing by commercial machining or fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing. After optimization, the machined and 3D printed degassers were found to be stable for >2 weeks under constant perfusion, without leaks. With a ~140 µL chamber volume, trapping capacity was extrapolated to allow for ~5–20 weeks of degassing depending on the rate of bubble formation. The degassers were biocompatible for use with cell culture, and they successfully prevented bubbles from reaching a downstream microfluidic device. Both degasser materials showed little to no leaching. The machined degasser did not absorb reagents, while the FDM printed degasser absorbed a small amount, and both maintained fluidic integrity from 1 µL/min to >1 mL/min of pressure-driven flow. Thus, these degassers can be fabricated in bulk and allow for long-term, efficient bubble removal in a simple microfluidic perfusion set-up. MDPI 2023-02-11 /pmc/articles/PMC9964747/ /pubmed/36838135 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi14020435 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Musgrove, Hannah B.
Saleheen, Amirus
Zatorski, Jonathan M.
Arneja, Abhinav
Luckey, Chance John
Pompano, Rebecca R.
A Scalable, Modular Degasser for Passive In-Line Removal of Bubbles from Biomicrofluidic Devices
title A Scalable, Modular Degasser for Passive In-Line Removal of Bubbles from Biomicrofluidic Devices
title_full A Scalable, Modular Degasser for Passive In-Line Removal of Bubbles from Biomicrofluidic Devices
title_fullStr A Scalable, Modular Degasser for Passive In-Line Removal of Bubbles from Biomicrofluidic Devices
title_full_unstemmed A Scalable, Modular Degasser for Passive In-Line Removal of Bubbles from Biomicrofluidic Devices
title_short A Scalable, Modular Degasser for Passive In-Line Removal of Bubbles from Biomicrofluidic Devices
title_sort scalable, modular degasser for passive in-line removal of bubbles from biomicrofluidic devices
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9964747/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36838135
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi14020435
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