Modular component design for portable microfluidic devices

Abstract

A new modular design concept for microfluidic devices is proposed and demonstrated in this study. We designed three key modular microfluidic components: pumps, valves, and reservoirs, and demonstrated that a microfluidic device with specific functions can be easily assembled with those key modular components. Our pumps are man-powerable so that the assembled microfluidic devices require no any other power sources like expensive syringe pumps or air compressors. This feature makes the assembled microfluidic devices completely portable. We also combined our assembled device with other existing mixing microchannels to serve as the mixing and loading system in polymerase chain reaction experiment to amplify DNA successfully. This result shows that those modular components can be integrated into other microchannels, implying great potential applications of the modular design.

3D Printed Reconfigurable Modular Microfluidic System for Generating Gel Microspheres

“…The typical fabrication methods of monolithic microfluidic systems, which include soft lithography, hot embossing, and femtosecond laser writing, are time consuming and often expensive. Additionally, the complicated fabrication processes would require more attention to the quality control [5]. Any part of failure of a monolithic microfluidic system may require rebuilding the entire system, which will result in long development time and incur substantial costs.…”

A Lego®-like swappable fluidic module for bio-chem applications

“…In the tests, the chamber was pressed down to expel the air inside the chamber. Since the OWV function could only move the internal fluid to the right side, the left side was thus blocked by OWV and not affected during the application of pressure [22]. Similarly, the vortex mixer consisted of three sections: a hemispherical chamber, two inlets and one outlet allowing the liquid passage.…”

A Novel Approach to Measure the Hydraulic Capacitance of a Microfluidic Membrane Pump

“…A membrane pump is a key component for transporting fluids in microfluidic systems, and such pumps can be categorized based on their actuating strategies: electrostatic [1], piezoelectric [2,3], electromagnetic [3,4], and handpowered [5][6][7][8]. Membranes typically comprise parylene [1], silicon [2], polyester [3], silicone [6], or polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) [5,7,8]. PDMS has been a focus in microfluidic devices because it can be rapidly fabricated and exhibits biocompatibility, and its transparency facilitates optical analysis.…”

“…Most pumps actuated by electric power are fabricated using complicated processes because of complex electrode configurations and the use of microelectromechanical systems or micromachining technologies. Alternative fabrication methods have been proposed to address these drawbacks [5,8].…”