Optimizing Stereolithography Printing Parameters for Enhanced Microfluidic Chip Quality

ABSTRACT In the pursuit of innovative biosensing technologies for critical applications such as early breast cancer detection, the development of efficient and portable devices is crucial. This work describes a unique stereolithography (SLA)-based three-dimensional–printed microfluidic device intended particularly for optofluidic biosensing with just microliter quantities of blood, similar to diabetes monitoring devices. Unlike typical cumbersome lab equipment such as the Biacore machine, which needs large blood sample volumes and laboratory processing, microfluidic technology allows for patient-operated, at-home testing, decreasing the requirement for hospital visits. The main contribution of this study is to optimize the SLA printing parameters, namely the exposure duration, in order to improve the microfluidic chip’s transparency and channel quality. This improvement allows for the exact immobilization of biorecognition components within the channels, resulting in sensitive and efficient biomarker detection. By extending the exposure duration, we considerably increase the structural integrity and optical clarity of the microfluidic channels, which are critical for successful biosignal transduction in labeled sensing applications. This development not only leads to a cheaper cost and faster manufacturing compared with conventional technologies but also offers increased performance in real bio-sensing applications. Thus, our work represents a big step forward in the development of accessible, efficient, and compact devices for early-stage illness diagnosis, outperforming existing lab-based diagnostics.