Production and Application of High-Accuracy Polymer-Based Magnetically Driven Microtool

We discuss a novel magnetically driven polymeric microtool for non-intrusive and non-contaminating experiments on a chip. The composite is formed by suspending magnetite particles (Fe3O4) in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). To obtain precise, complex patterns from magnetically driven microtools, photolithography has been applied taking advantage of thick KMPR-1050 photoresist as a sacrificed mold. The microtool surface was coated to suppress stiction in the biochip. These microtools feature 1. fabrication of any shape, 2. softness (harmless to cells), 3. no stiction, and 4. mass production at low cost enabling disposability. We demonstrate versatile mass-produced magnetically driven microtools such as stirrers and valves. The potential impact of this technology includes sample selection and separation, cell immobilization, mixing and reaction into portable microfluidic labs-on-a-chip, and long-term culture and cell loading.