微流體切換元件應用於化療藥物篩檢之研究

Abstract

傳統生物實驗經常需要切換數種不同流體進入所謂「生物晶片」中，如酒精、二次水、培養基、細胞懸浮液、化療藥物、螢光染劑等。本論文建立一同時具有「液體切換模組」以及「細胞培養檢測模組」之化療藥物檢測平台。液體切換模組置於上游負責按順序切換不同液體至下游之細胞培養模組。而液體在平台內的驅動為利用一台能同時推/拉多支注射筒之幫浦由下游抽拉，使經過細胞培養模組中每一腔室之流量被控制為相同。藉由調變氣壓以控制氣動薄膜閥系統，該平台能大量減少為切換流體所需之重複手動操作。在液體切換模組中，每一入口設計為密閉腔室，除可作為液體補充/放置之暫存空間，亦具有防止氣泡進入流道之功用。由上游所施加之輔助氣壓(~0.5psi)可成功將流道及下游細胞培養模組中之氣泡藉由PDMS之透氣特性由孔隙釋出。此外，為防止在同時引入不同流體(如化療藥物)時會產生流體干擾(crosstalk)，特別在元件中加入抑制閥(blocking valve)，避免此情況發生。本晶片在流速10μL/min之下用染劑測試結果，抑制閥可確保至少100分鐘不發生流體干擾。本晶片亦用染劑模擬生物實驗中流體切換之操作流程，實驗結果顯示，液體切換模組可成功將不同液體依序引入細胞培養模組中。此外本晶片亦展示在經由酒精消毒、二次水洗潤、膠原塗布、培養基洗潤、引入細胞懸浮液後，細胞均勻佈入細胞培養模組中，並在12小時後貼附於腔室底部，顯示細胞培養模組所營造之環境適合細胞生長。

Here we present an integrated microfluidic platform which includes two parts: flow switching module and cell culture module. This platform reduces the routine and manual work in conventional biological experiments which need to introduce numerous reagents in sequence. The fabrication of this platform dose not need the cleanroom technology which is relatively time-consuming and expensive. Pneumatic membrane valves are developed to switch the flow between different fluids by controlling the pressure. Wells of inlets are designed as the space which can temporarily store the fluids and prevent the bubble formation. The auxiliary pressure (~0.5psi) is applied from upstream to eliminate bubbles in minutes due to the air-permeability of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). To avoid the crosstalk between channels which introduce different fluids simultaneously, a blocking valve is added under the intersection of the channels and successfully inhibits the crosstalk. The performance of the blocking valve and the flow switching has been characterized under certain conditions. The cell culture and chemodrug screening are also demonstrated as the application of this platform.