In-Situ Ring Assembled Inner Tubular Fabrication by Optofluidic Maskless Lithography for Soft Robotics and Medical Devices Inspired From Segment Construction of Shield Tunnel Technology

Abstract

We proposed a novel in-situ fabrication method for creating hydrogel-based tubular microstructures within microfluidic channels using flow-controlled optofluidic maskless lithography. Although tubular hydrogel structures are in high demand in the field of soft robotics and medical devices, precise fabrication of hollowed hydrogel is still difficult due to structural instability. In this work, we fabricated a tubular hydrogel by continuously forming rings, controlling a fluid interface, and using patterned UV light. As a proof of concept, we successfully fabricated a hydrogel ring and a segment of a hydrogel tube within a 1 mm diameter PDMS channel, demonstrating the feasibility and potential of this method for applications in soft robotics and medical devices.