The use of microwells is popular for a wide range of applications due to its’ simplicity. However, the seeding of conventional microwells, which are closed at the bottom, is restricted to gravitational sedimentation for cell or particle deposition and therefore require lengthy settling times to maximize well occupancy. The addition of microfluidics to the capture process has accelerated cell or particle dispersion and improved capture ability but is mostly limited to gravitationally-driven settling for capture into the wells. An alternative approach to conventional closed-microwells, sieved microwells supersedes reliance on gravity by using hydrodynamic forces through the open pores at the bottom of the microwells to draw targets into the wells. We have developed a rapid fabrication method, based on flow lithography techniques, which allows us to easily customize the mesh pore sizes in a simple two-step process. Finally, by combining this microwell design with cross-flow trapping in a microfluidic two-layered channel, we achieve an 88 ± 6% well occupancy in under 10 s.

由于其简单性，微孔的使用在广泛的应用中很受欢迎。然而，底部封闭的传统微孔的接种仅限于细胞或颗粒沉积的重力沉降，因此需要较长的沉降时间才能最大限度地提高孔的占用率。在捕获过程中添加微流体可以加速细胞或颗粒的分散并提高捕获能力，但主要限于重力驱动的沉降以捕获到孔中。筛分微孔是传统封闭微孔的替代方法，它通过使用流体动力通过微孔底部的开放孔将目标吸入孔中，从而取代了对重力的依赖。我们开发了一种基于流动光刻技术的快速制造方法，使我们能够通过简单的两步过程轻松定制网格孔径。最后，通过将这种微孔设计与微流体双层通道中的错流捕获相结合，我们在 10 秒内实现了 88 ± 6% 的孔占用率。