96-Color Microcontact Printing Device for Screening of Tumor-Imaging Probes on Clinical Samples

This work presents a 96-color microcontact printing ( μCP) device applied for screening of fluorescent probes on a clinical sample. Tumor-specific fluorescent probes have attracted attention for the diagnosis and complete resection of tumor lesions. However, intratumor heterogeneity within/between patients hinders discovery of such probes among various candidate molecules. In previous work, we therefore proposed a μCP device with a multicolored inkpad, which enabled to print a set of probes on a single sample at once. In this work, we further developed the μCP device, applicable to print 96 probes in 1 cm
²
. Reproducibility of the printing was proved on an agarose substrate. Finally, 24 types of probes on the device were applied for a screening test on a clinical sample of a gastric cancer patient.