Menu

Blog

Dec 11, 2023

Scientists 3D print self-heating microfluidic devices

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical, chemistry

MIT researchers have used 3D printing to produce self-heating microfluidic devices, demonstrating a technique which could someday be used to rapidly create cheap, yet accurate, tools to detect a host of diseases.

Microfluidics, miniaturized machines that manipulate fluids and facilitate , can be used to detect disease in tiny samples of blood or fluids. At-home test kits for COVID-19, for example, incorporate a simple type of microfluidic.

But many microfluidic applications require chemical reactions that must be performed at specific temperatures. These more complex , which are typically manufactured in a , are outfitted with heating elements made from gold or platinum using a complicated and expensive fabrication process that is difficult to scale up.

Comments are closed.