Self-powered Imbibing Microfluidic Pump by Liquid Encapsulation: SIMPLE

Abstract

Reliable, autonomous, internally self-powered microfluidic pumps are in critical demand for rapid point-of-care (POC) devices, integrated molecular-diagnostic platforms, and drug delivery systems. Here we report on a Self-powered Imbibing Microfluidic Pump by Liquid Encapsulation (SIMPLE), which is disposable, autonomous, easy to use and fabricate, robust, and cost efficient, as a solution for self-powered microfluidic POC devices. The imbibition pump introduces the working liquid which is sucked into a porous material (paper) upon activation. The suction of the working liquid creates a reduced pressure in the analytical channel and induces the sequential sample flow into the microfluidic circuits. It requires no external power or control and can be simply activated by a fingertip press. The flow rate can be programmed by defining the shape of utilized porous material: by using three different paper shapes with circular section angles 20°, 40° and 60°, three different volume flow rates of 0.07 μL s(-1), 0.12 μL s(-1) and 0.17 μL s(-1) are demonstrated at 200 μm × 600 μm channel cross-section. We established the SIMPLE pumping of 17 μL of sample; however, the sample volume can be increased to several hundreds of μL. To demonstrate the design, fabrication, and characterization of SIMPLE, we used a simple, robust and cheap foil-laminating fabrication technique. The SIMPLE can be integrated into hydrophilic or hydrophobic materials-based microfluidic POC devices. Since it is also applicable to large-scale manufacturing processes, we anticipate that a new chapter of a cost effective, disposable, autonomous POC diagnostic chip is addressed with this technical innovation.

Diagnosi azkarrera bideratutako gailu mikro-fluidikoen garapen eta azterketa

“…Gaur egun kontrol mikro-fluidikorako osagai ugari aurki ditzakegu, eta horien artean mikro-balbulak eta mikro-ponpak dira garrantzitsuenak. Analisirako sistema autonomoak egiteko orduan osagai autopropultsatuak erabiltzea interesgarria denez, azken urteetan mota horretako osagaien sorta zabala aurki daiteke [6][7][8]. Orain arte fabrikazio teknika eta material ezberdinak erabili izan dira halako osagaiak garatzeko.…”

Towards autonomous lab-on-a-chip devices for cell phone biosensing

“…Hybrid approaches, where paper is used as a pump in otherwise conventional fluidics, have also been demonstrated (Figure 4b) (Kokalj et al, 2014). Systems like this create a suction pump using a working fluid between two passive valves that connect on one side to a paper sector and to an analytical region on the other end.…”

“…Alternatively, the capillary paper extraction can be combined with classical fluidics, as has been shown in hybrid transport systems (Wang et al, 2010;Kokalj et al, 2014), and capillary devices can be entirely microfabricated (Zimmermann et al, 2007;Safavieha and Juncker, 2013;Gervais and Delamarche, 2009).…”

“…In this case whole blood is propelled using a self-powered evacuated dead-end microchannel (Hosokawa et al, 2004(Hosokawa et al, , 2006, which needs to be preserved in a vacuum pouch previous to operation, although the principle could be adapted to other forms of self-propulsion (Wang et al, 2010;Kokalj et al, 2014;Zimmermann et al, 2007;Gervais and Delamarche, 2009) or finger pumps (Comina et al, 2015a;Begolo et al, 2014). The deep trench type of separation feature is also very compatible with 3D printed LOC devices (Comina et al, 2014a(Comina et al, , 2015b and minimizes the number of components and fabrication steps.…”

Finger-powered electrophoretic transport of discrete droplets for portable digital microfluidics

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Recent studies further proposed schemes to improve the fluid handling accuracy of paper-based microfluidic devices. 8,9 Other "passive" pumping mechanisms for microfluidic devices include "degas driven flows", 10,11 capillary pumps, 12,13 finger-powered hydrodynamic flows 14 and punch-card based programmable microfluidic devices. 15 However, most of these schemes involve pre-defined microfluidic channel structures, which limit their functional flexibility and make them difficult to scale up.…”