Design of a 3D printed device for monosize microbubble production on a chip

For therapeutic microbubble applications like blood-brain-barrier opening, monodisperse microbubbles are preferred due to their uniform acoustical response. To create these monosize microbubbles, a flow-focusing chip can be used, which allows the adjustment of size and production rate during production by adjusting the flow of gas and surfactant mixture. In previous work by van Elburg et al., feedback controlled microbubble production was made possible by optically sensing the produced microbubbles through a laser sheet. In this thesis, an improved design for a monosize microbubble production device is shown, which removes microbubble size ambuigity by incorporating a dual laser setup. The device has been shown to produce monosize microbubbles at a wide range of on-chip radii (5.3μm − 12.0μm) and production rates (43.3kHz − 337.8kHz). From the dual laser setup, the microbubble radius and production rate are obtained during production of monosize microbubbles on the flow-focusing chip. Furthermore, the design is 3D printed and has a small footprint, which would make implementation into a clinical device for bedside monosize microbubble production possible.