Patent ID: 7618576

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a microfluidic device comprising a body and at least one nozzle integral thereto and extending outwardly from one face thereof, the body having at least one channel formed therethrough with a length of the channel being formed though the nozzle and terminating near a sealed apex of the nozzle, the method comprising the steps of providing only a single mold which includes a negative impression of the channel and the at least one nozzle, the negative impression being shaped such that the formed nozzle has a beveled outer surface; injecting a polymeric material into the mold; curing the polymeric material to form the microfluidic device with the sealed apex; removing the body from the mold; and opening up the sealed apex by forming a nozzle opening by focusing an energy beam from an energy source at the sealed apex such that the focused energy beam is coaxial to the channel in the nozzle until material is ablated at the apex, thereby opening up the channel to the exterior, wherein a diameter of the energy beam can be varied to form different shaped and different sized nozzle openings using the same single mold, thereby permitting different final nozzle constructions to be formed from the same formed microfluidic device that has the sealed apex.