An ultra-thin highly flexible microfluidic device for artificial placenta type microfluidic blood oxygenator application

Copyright© (2018) by Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society.All rights reserved. In this paper, we present the first ultra-thin, flexible and foldable microfluidic device with gas exchange membrane on both sides of a microchannel network, suitable for blood oxygenator application. The use of highly porous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane to reinforce large area ultra-thin polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane enabled the fabrication of a highly robust, thin, flexible and foldable microfluidic device. We demonstrate the superior performance of this flexible membrane device, to mechanical deformation and develop a compact rolled format for an artificial placenta application.