Fig. 1.

Hot embossing was used to topographically pattern the porous membranes. An un-patterned polycarbonate membrane (A) was placed on a nickel mold (B). The nickel mold contained relief structures of the topographical features of interest and was fabricated using photolithography, etching and electroforming processes. The membrane and nickel mold were brought in contact between two platens and placed under elevated temperatures and pressure (C) and the membrane was de-molded (D) from the nickel mold. The result was a topographically-patterned membrane (E) with intact pore structure. The membrane was then assembled into a multichannel microfluidic device (F) for the study of cell culture and transport.