Fabrication of microfluidic vascular phantoms by laser micromachining

Imaging of capillary structures and monitoring of blood flow within vasculature is becoming more common in clinical settings. However, very few dynamic phantoms exist which mimic capillary structures. We report the fabrication and testing of microfluidic, vascular phantoms aimed at the study of blood flow. These phantoms are fabricated using low-cost, off-the-shelf materials and require no lithographic processing, stamping, or embossing. Using laser micromachining, complex microfluidic structures can be fabricated in under an hour. The laser system is capable of producing microfluidic features with sizes on the order of tens of microns, over an area of several square centimeters. Because the laser micromachining system is computer controlled and accepts both vector and raster files, the microfluidic structure can be simple, rectilinear patterns or complex, anatomically correct patterns. The microfluidic devices interface with simple off the shelf syringe pumps. The microfluidic devices fabricated with this technique were used for non-invasive monitoring of flow using speckle based techniques.