Frequently Asked Questions
Please find here answers to the most common questions we get.
Of course we'd love to talk to you, so feel free to get in touch to discuss your project ideas.
How is your 3D microfluidic printing different to how other microfluidics are created? We have a unique, novel process that allows us to print uniform microfluidic channels with great resolution and finish. It took ages to get right, and we're pretty proud of it. This means we can go from design to part within a day with minimal manipulation. Moulding or machining these parts demands long lead times and high tooling costs, 3D Printing also enables production of fully-enclosed channels which both bypasses the requirement for secondary bonding and also enables three-dimensional channel paths.
What materials are the parts made from? Methacrylate based thermoset liquid resins solidified by UV light exposure to photoinitiator. We have a range of standard resins with different mechanical properties e.g. strength, transparency, and flexibility and certified biocompatible resins such as Pro3dure GR10 and Liqcreate BioMed Clear, and can source more custom if needed.
What printers do you use? We use a range of SLA and DLP printers from Phrozen, Asiga and CADWorks amongst others. The printer for a specific job is selected based on experience, geometric, and material requirements.
What scale can you manufacture at? Orders to date have ranged from 1 to 2000 parts. There has been interest up to 10,000 parts, so we are preparing to scale for that level as well. Talk to us about larger orders, we can probably help you select an appropriate transferable manufacturing method with one of our trusted partners. We’ll help with design for manufacture if it's up beyond what is sensible for 3D prints.
Are your materials biocompatible? We have a range of materials available, including biocompatible options. Depending on specification, we can recommend materials that are biocompatible for applications such as cell culture, nucleic acid amplification or even implantable devices. We can provide details on the biocompatibility certifications of the materials we use.
What are the smallest and largest dimensions you can print? The smallest channel sizes that can be formed are dependent on the whole part geometry and the selected resin material, however the smallest rectangular channel formed consistently and accurately is 100 um. The smallest circular channel is 200 depending on channel pattern and resin viscosity. Smaller features can be included and different channel cross-section shapes are possible. To include the smallest of features, the component size may be limited, depending on the 3D printer we need to use, but we can also go to the other extreme and have produced manifolds around 300 x 300mm with 1mm channels.
What do you offer for design support? We have years of combined engineering, system and microfluidic experience, we can assist with de novo and/or advise on existing designs and iterations.
How sure can you be that an original design will be successful? Based on our engineering experience and prior 3D print projects we can give a realistic estimate of success, we also can offer design support for improved chance of success. As part of our SOP we regularly do trial prints to explore feasibility and improve success rate - sometimes we evaluate a design and print during the quoting process for added security.
Do you offer standard parts? We do offer customizable standard parts in our Webshop. We are always interested in adding new products, if you would like us to add an item to our shop let us know.
How is the reproducibility and quality of the units? Reproducibility and quality of the produced part is typical of all 3D printed parts manufactured with SLA technology. In practice, as with all AM manufacturing processes this means increased time for optimizing the process to a specific microfluidic geometry, as compared to CNC micromilling or micro-forming processes and increased margins of printing errors, which are compensated by the lower production and materials costs and/or higher productivity rates. Our experience allows us to maximize quality and reproducibility and minimize optimization process.
What is your Quality Control process? Currently, all single parts produced in our lab are manually evaluated in terms of geometrical accuracy, feature definition and surface quality. Enclosed microfluidic prints are also evaluated in terms of fluid flow to ensure there is no leakage and/or flow obstruction due to inaccuracies or debris in the channels. Additional Quality Control processes can be added on a per project basis.
Do you have standard pricing? Standard parts have standard pricing per the Store. For custom components costs are calculated based on many geometric, material, and volume variables.
What types of connections do you support? We regularly integrate standard connections such as luer locks, mini luers, barbs and threads into 3D printed microfluidics parts. We can also help in designing custom interfaces tailored to your specific needs.
Can you print other conformations besides microfluidic chips? Absolutely, typically we specialise in microfluidic channels, but various projects have seen us use our printers (and the rest of our engineering workshop) to make a variety of parts to fully support client projects such as optical components, precision autoclavale parts, and components of our MMS system in our webshop.
Can I add sensors or other components to my project? You can, we can support a wide variety of components, get in touch to discuss with us. We can embed PCBs, SPEs (Screen-printed electrodes) and electronic components, glass or other polymer sheets and mechanical fasteners.
Who owns the Intellectual Property? Your designs and any design work we do for you remains your Intellectual Property. If there are any novel manufacturing processes or approaches that are developed during your project the Intellectual Property for that stays with us.
Are you clean room certified? Do you have ISO 13485 Certification? No, we do not have certified cleanroom facilities. Our business model focuses on the rapid iterative prototyping stages. We design and fabricate models to help new medical device development – it is then the responsibility of the client running the project to ensure all necessary requirements are met and approved.
Are you able to design and fabricate for specific properties? Yes, certainly we can prioritise certain characteristics of your finalised prototype. We are also to alter our design and fabrication techniques – in addition to various post processing techniques to enhance specific properties e.g. – Optical Clarity by resin choice, print orientation, sanding, lacquering, and polishing. Fluid flow properties can be controlled via expert design for manufacturing but also via our internal channel polishing techniques. If you require specific hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity – we have developed surface treatment techniques and resin mixtures which allow us to manipulate the resultant water, contact angle to suit the specifications of the client and application of the part.
Can you make components compatible with automation platforms? Yes, we are able to print automation friendly microplates (with integrated channels or sensor integrated) and also template microfluidic parts to other automation requirements.
How quickly can I expect my parts to be delivered? From ordering the part and supplying a final design appropriate for manufacture – we can optimise, print and process in the same day to have the part arriving with you within 24 hours. We have even satisfied domestic orders on the same day if the part is a quick print we are confident in fabricating to a high standard right away. European orders we can achieve 48 hours and for US 72 hours, depending on capacity, complexity and urgency.