Projects:

1. Micropatterning of cells

Patterning techniques based on photolithography and soft lithography have been widely used to modify surface properties for a variety of applications in cell biology such as tissue engineering, biosensors and in investigation of fundamental cell biology questions. The general approach to cell patterning has been based on modifying surface properties followed by selective cell attachment and spreading.

Laminar flow of liquids in a microchannel system can be used to simultaneously control the characteristics of the surface to which cells are attached, the type of cells that are in their vicinity, and the kind of media that cells or part of a cell are exposed to. In order to develop this method a controlled microfluidic network system should be designed.

The objective of the project is to study the combined flow stream pattern obtained when two or more streams are joined in a microchannel network, under various conditions.

2. PDMS micro-device for cell culture studies

Soft lithography techniques are used to fabricate micro-channel networks in poly(dimethylsiloxane) - PDMS, for cell culture. PDMS is a silicon rubber, which is non-toxic, hydrophobic, highly permeable to gases, optically transparent and amenable to molding of nanometer scale topologies. The bulging of microfluidic systems during pressure-driven flow is potentially a major consideration for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based devices. Microchannel cross-sectional areas can change drastically as a function of flow rate and downstream microchannel position.

The objective of the project is to model, using finite elements, the behavior of PDMS microchannels.