Micro-particle filter made in SU-8 for biomedical applications

We have integrated a micro-particle filter in a polymer cantilever to filter micro-particles from a fluid while simultaneously measuring the amount of filtered particles. In a 3,8 mum thick SU-8 cantilever a filter was integrated with pore sizes between 3 and 30 mum. The chip was inserted in a microfluidic system and water with differently sized polystyrene beads was pumped through the filter. Particles which are larger than the pore sizes, cannot pass the filter and will increase the flow resistance of the cantilever. With more and more captured particles the cantilever starts to deflect, which can be detected by an optical read-out system.