Integration of glass micropipettes with a 3D printed aligner for microfluidic flow cytometer

In this study, a facile strategy for fabricating a microfluidic flow cytometer using two glass micropipettes with different sizes and a 3D printed millifluidic aligner was presented. Particle confinement was achieved by hydrodynamic focusing using a single sample and sheath flow. Device performance was extracted using the forward and side-scattered optical signals obtained using fiber-coupled laser and photodetectors. The 3-D printing assisted glass capillary microfluidic device is ultra-low-cost, not labor-intensive and takes less than 10 min to fabricate. The present device offers a great alternative to conventional benchtop flow cytometers in terms of optofluidic configuration.