Teach your microscope how to print: low-cost and rapid-iteration microfabrication for biology.

ABSTRACT: The application of traditional microfabrication techniques to biological research is hindered by their reliance on clean rooms, expensive or toxic materials, and slow iteration cycles. We present an accessible microfabrication workflow that addresses these challenges by integrating consumer 3D printing techniques and repurposing standard fluorescence microscopes equipped with DMDs for maskless photolithography. Our method achieves micrometer-scale precision across centimeter-sized areas without clean room infrastructure, using affordable and readily available consumables. We demonstrate the versatility of this approach through four biological applications: inducing cytoskeletal protrusions via 1 μm-resolution surface topographies; micropatterning to standardize cell and tissue morph

SUBMITTER: Hinderling L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12257287 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature