Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
EUROoCS Annual Meeting 2024, Milan, İtalya, 3 - 05 Temmuz 2024, ss.1, (Yayınlanmadı)
Development of MEMS Fabricated Parylene Membrane for Organ-on-Chip Applications Zeynep Çağlayan Arslan1,2,*, Ali Can Atik1,2, Meltem Okan2,3, Hans M. Wyss4, Can Dinçer5, Wolfgang Eberle6, Hüseyin Cumhur Tekin2,7, Haluk Külah1,2,3 and Ender Yıldırım2,3,8 1Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey 2METU MEMS Center, Ankara, Turkey 3Department of Micro and Nanotechnology, Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey 4Microsystems, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands 5Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK), University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany 6Imec, Leuven, Belgium 7Department of Bioengineering, Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH), Izmir, Turkey 8Department of Mechanical Engineering, Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey *E-mail (only presenting author): zcaglayan@mems.metu.edu.tr Organ-on-Chip (OoC) technology has emerged as a promising tool for tissue engineering, drug discovery, organ physiology exploration, and disease research. OoCs are microfluidic cell culture platforms with multiple channels, providing precise control over mechanical parameters under dynamic fluid flow conditions for simulating physiological functions accurately [1–3]. One of the crucial elements in OoC systems is the incorporation of porous membranes, which primarily serve as a cell substrate, allowing the arrangement of cell layers around them. This process establishes an interface between the organized cell layers, enabling cellular crosstalk [4]. Commercially available membranes face limitations in cell imaging and cell-cell contact due to their thickness, non-uniform pore density, and low porosity. In contrast, photolithographically patterned polymer membranes achieve precise pore patterning, offering uniform and high porosity with thinner membranes. This feature is advantageous for facilitating cell imaging [5]. Among polymers, Parylene, a versatile biomaterial, displays distinctive characteristics such as biocompatibility, transparency, flexibility, conformal coating, and favorable mechanical and dielectric properties [6]. This study presents the simple and reproducible process for MEMS-manufactured Parylene membranes and their integration into an OoC platform. Figure 1A, B represents the applied fabrication process flow and the microscope images obtained during the fabrication, respectively. These membranes, featuring a pore diameter of 10 µm and a porosity of 35%, are achieved through successful precise patterning, ensuring high and uniform porosity without pore overlap. Parylene membranes were fabricated in METU-MEMS Center (Ankara, Turkey). In this method, resist/metal mask is applied to Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) of Parylene layer [7]. The integration of fabricated Parylene membranes into PDMS microchannels, designed specifically for OoC applications, was achieved through a bonding technique, involving the application of a thin layer of PDMS prepolymer as a glue layer between the Parylene membrane and PDMS microchannels [8].