Print-n-Shrink'' technology for the rapid production of microfluidic chips and protein microarrays

An innovative method for the production of microfluidic chips integrating protein spots is described. The technology, called Print-n-Shrink'', is based on the screen-printing of a microfluidic design (using a dielectric ink) onto Polyshrink (TM) polystyrene sheets. The initial print which has a minimum size of 15 mm (height) x 230 mm (width) is thermally treated (30 seconds, 163 degrees C) to shrink and generate features of 85 mm (height) x 100 mm (width). Concomitantly, proteins such as monoclonal antibodies or cellular adhesion proteins are spotted onto the Polyshrink (TM) sheets and shrunk together with the microfluidic design, creating a complete biochip integrating both complex microfluidic designs and protein spots for bioanalytical applications.