Microfluidic device with integrated temperature control unit for hydrogel actuation

A microfluidic device, with a temperature control unit to study the behaviour of temperature sensitive hydrogel, has been designed, simulated and fabricated. The system consists of a PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) microchannel sealed on a Pyrex substrate with microfabricated titanium electrodes for heating and sensing elements. A thermal insulating layer in-between the electrodes and the substrate was found to increase the heat transfer to the fluid and decrease the lateral heat propagation. The temperature profile and the heat distribution in the system were investigated using the commercial software package CFD-ACE+. The device was electrically and thermally characterised. Such a system, biocompatible and re-usable, could be a potential candidate for biomedical applications such as DNA amplification and protein synthesis.