Parallel Fluidics produces ultra-precise microfluidics prototypes with CYROLITE® MD

• Parallel Fluidics specializes in rapid manufacturing of microfluidics prototypes
• Röhm’s special product CYROLITE® MD offers exceptional transparency and UV transmittance for diagnostic components
• Molding compound with excellent flow behavior and highest reproduction accuracy

The field of microfluidics is a key technology for the medicine of the future. Having already revolutionized the world of laboratory medicine by enabling samples to be analyzed much faster, it also plays a major role in the development of new drugs.

Parallel Fluidics, a company based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, specializes in rapid manufacturing of microfluidics prototypes for the life sciences sector, covering areas such as diagnostics, drug discovery, precision medicine, sequencing, and cell therapy. Their technology centers around the production of microfluidic components and chips, that usually feature channels down to 50 micrometers (µm) in width and depth, produced from transparent plastics. Parallel Fluidics also offers specialized components to enable a variety of “lab on a chip” operations that would otherwise be performed by external hardware.

Parallel Fluidics produces the microfluidics chips – up to 6 millimeters thick and with small channels and chambers – in a transition molding process they developed in-house. This process makes use of thermoplastics including CYROLITE® MD molding compounds from Röhm.

CYROLITE® MD: Röhm’s special molding compound for diagnostic components

CYROLITE® MD is a high quality PMMA polymer for medical applications and is available with a range of different modifications. “We developed the CYROLITE® MD products specifically to meet the strict demands of medical diagnostics. Its stand-out features are its exceptional optical clarity and ultra-violet light transmittance, coupled with very good flow characteristics, low autofluorescence and high dimensional stability. It is also sterilizable with Ethylene Oxide and other techniques” says Mary Morrison, Strategic Account Manager Medical at Röhm’s Molding Compounds business unit.

The engineers at Parallel Fluidics value some of the unique material properties as they improve reliability in their production processes and capabilities: “CYROLITE® MD H12, for example, has a great balance between mechanical properties and temperature resistance“ confirms Duncan O’Boyle, Senior Microfluidics Engineer at Parallel Fluidics. “The CYROLITE® MD grades we have tested provide excellent machinability, making them a good fit in our hybrid manufacturing process for producing microfluidic prototypes.”

Prototypes from Parallel Fluidics: rapid, custom and high-quality

According to O’Boyle, Parallel Fluidics’ transition molding process is a faster, more flexible alternative to conventional injection molding, making it ideal for producing prototypes and small quantities in just a few days. “Our cost-effective tooling allows for swift design iterations and reduces development risks, providing a shorter path from concept to market.” Clients send over their design as a CAD file. Parallel Fluidics uses this to create an aluminum tool that can be used to mold identical copies of the component as many times as needed. CYROLITE® MD molding compounds have excellent flow properties and guarantee high reproduction accuracy of the microstructures.

The body with the open channels is usually sealed with a thin capping layer, made from a transparent PMMA film. A particular technical challenge highlighted by Senior Applications Engineer Jonathan Cottet is interfacing – the process of equipping the microfluidics chips with connecting elements such as micro-valves, reservoirs, and fluidic connectors such as Luer locks or threaded ports. CYROLITE® MD enables interfacing by behaving well in laser welding and thermal bonding processes due to its thermal stability and strong adhesion capabilities. This is where the mechanical stability of CYROLITE® MD really pays off.

The big benefits of miniaturization

The miniaturization of diagnostic equipment is highly complex in production but has major advantages when it comes to practical application, as Cottet describes: “If you want to get substances to interact with each other, you must bring them very close together. Here we’re dealing with human cells, or bacteria and viruses, with diameters down to a few micrometers.” Another benefit of moving to a microfluidic system is reducing the amount of sample and reagent volume needed to achieve the same results as would be achieved in more traditional instruments. Cottet points out that every single cell obtained in a biopsy is extremely valuable. Microfluidic technologies help to use these types of resources more efficiently. For example, some of the chemicals and biological components are so expensive that they need to be used sparingly.

UV-transmitting, resistant to chemicals, slightly hydrophilic

The polymer that Parallel Fluidics chooses to produce a prototype depends on how the microfluidics system is going to be used. The unique feature of CYROLITE® MD is its outstanding light transmittance of 92 percent down to 340 nm. This makes Röhm’s special product the material of choice for precise optical measurements in the field of diagnostics. “Of the thermoplastic materials we process, CYROLITE® MD offers the best properties for ultraviolet applications. This allows our customers to reliably transmit wavelengths as low as 340 nm without significant fluorescence or optical losses in devices requiring UV transmission,” explains microfluidics expert O’Boyle.

In addition to this, CYROLITE® MD offers even more advantages for microfluidics: Because it is slightly more hydrophilic than other transparent thermoplastics, the channels can be more easily wetted, helping fluids to be introduced without trapping bubbles or building up too much pressure.

CYROLITE® MD grades also offer slightly higher resistance to chemicals when compared with other products based on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). This resistance allows for ethanol spray downs or other methods of surface decontamination without the risk of cracking or crazing. “This property also makes CYROLITE® MD easier to modify with various surface treatments, coatings, or other processes involving weak polar solvents,” adds O’Boyle.

Material with favorable cost-benefit ratio for the growth market of microfluidics

All in all, Parallel Fluidics rates CYROLITE® MD as a high-quality material with a diverse range of characteristics. With its attractive cost-benefit ratio, it also lends itself well to the series production of microfluidics components. For example, CYROLITE® MD offers great optical properties at a lower cost than other plastics for cell culture devices.

Mary Morrison from Röhm is convinced that microfluidics will gain in importance as a field of application: “Microfluidics is a 32-billion-dollar market with a compound annual growth rate of 12 to 17 percent between 2023 and 2032. It has the potential to completely change diagnostics, drug screening and research. There is room for CYROLITE® MD in applications that benefit from our medical acrylics’ unique properties.”