Fabrication of an Fluid Circuit for Equal Filling of a Well Array

Abstract

Frequently in fluidic circuits there is a need to fill an array of wells. Methods for ensuring equal filling rates have hindered the application of microtechnology to cell culture applications directed to multiwell incubation. The greatest precision of equal fill volume to each well along a row occurred when the channels were extended into the third dimension, whereas, a traditional configuration is planar. This type of configuration utilizes vertical potential energy changes in cooperation with geometric restrictions. This paper presents the 3-D geometry that has five equally spaced wells to sustain equal filling. Moreover the fabrication process used to bond the multi-layer structure into a single 3-D circuit is presented.