DEVELOPING A PORTABLE HEATING PLATFORM FOR MICROFLUIDIC IN VITRO DEVICES FOR ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

Infertility affects many couples worldwide, increasing the need for advancements in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). This capstone project aims to develop a portable heating platform for microfluidic in vitro devices to maintain precise and uniform temperature control during embryo culture outside traditional incubators. The platform is designed for NUNC 4 well dishes, features a 3D-printed PLA+ holder and uses one of two heating technologies: a Peltier element and an indium tin oxide (ITO)- based microheater fabricated via Magnetron Sputtering. The Peltier element achieves the target temperature of 37°C with low power consumption, but its thermal uniformity requires further evaluation. The 135 nm ITO microheater, with a sheet resistivity of 233.03 Ω/□, achieved steady state at around 37◦C in 89 seconds with 5V and 0.5 A of power supply, while 13 V and 0.5 A of power supply choice can be used for rapid heating with the necessary help of active control. The temperature monitoring was done using a Arduino and DS18B20 sensor, which has a ±0.5◦C accuracy.