About This Project

The project aims to develop a low-cost microscopy platform for micro-fabrication that achieves similar resolution as proprietary setups. By hacking hardware from cheap resin printers, and integrating it with open-source microscope platforms, we will make designing custom micro-fabrication experiments (microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip, micropatterning) accessible to anyone. We will evaluate applicability for live cell experiments by comparing against commercially available chips and platforms.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

How do cells sense geometrical cues to navigate in complex 3-dimensional environments? Understanding how cells are capable of invading tissues is crucial in preventing metastasis. By placing cells in tiny mazes, we study how they probe their surroundings, and what signaling dynamics allow them to squeeze through narrow gaps. The mazes are built using microfabrication, a technique used to create small-scale structures. Traditional microfab techniques require equipment costing tens of thousands of dollars, making it inaccessible to many researchers. By developing open-source hardware tools and protocols, we eliminate expensive equipment and the need for a clean room environment, and continue current efforts to make microfab accessible and cost-effective for small labs.

What is the significance of this project?

We are successfully using this protocol with closed-source hardware for many different commonly used cell biology projects in the lab: Microwells for single-cell traps, microfluidics to study migration under confinment, and micro-patterns with subcellular precision to study cytoskeletal dynamics at the single cell scale, or effects of geometrical constraints on collective behaviour. The fast iteration times have massively increased our productivity, enabling us to explore unconventional design ideas that we previously have avoided because of the associated cost, an issue otherwise only addressed by in silico optimisation. By translating this protocol to an open-hardware platform, the FabScope, we will make these benefits available to everyone.

What are the goals of the project?

The FabScope should be able to produce microfluidic chips and micro-patterns with the same spatial resolution as we achieve with our current proprietary setup (<10 µm). We will validate it’s micropatterning abilities by comparing against commercially available chips. Our approach involves hacking mass-produced consumer to source cheap hardware. Digital micromirror devices (DMD) are employed in movie projectors and resin 3D printers. By exchanging the optics of the projector, the image can be reduced in size instead of being enlarged onto a screen. We will then combine the modified optical engine with existing open-source microscope designs (UC2, OpenFlexure) to integrate it into a fully programmable microscope with a x/y/z stage.