Multilayer micro fluidic poly(Ethylene Glycol) diacrylate hydrogels

Abstract

Development of robust, in vivo like tissues in vitro holds the potential to create regenerative medicinebased therapeutics, provide more physiologically signi fi cant preclinical models and supply a pharmacological and toxicological screening platform that re fl ects in vivo systems in both complexity and function. This protocol describes a simple, robust, multilayer replica molding technique in which poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) are serially replica molded to develop micro fluidic PEGDA hydrogel networks embedded within independently fabricated PDMS housings, using a combination of soft and photo-lithography. This work has direct applications toward the development of robust, complex, cell-laden hydrogels for in vitro diagnostics and regenerative medicine applications © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2013.