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Microfluidic Chips Controlled with Elastomeric Microvalve Arrays

Microfluidic Chips Controlled with Elastomeric Microvalve Arrays

Published on: October 1, 2007

Digital microfluidic meter-on-chip.

Zecong Fang¹, Yi Ding², Zhichao Zhang¹

¹Micro-Nano Innovations (MiNI) Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. tingrui@ ucdavis.edu.

|December 20, 2019

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

A new microfluidic digital meter-on-chip (DMC) precisely measures low liquid flow rates using capillarity. This technology offers ultrahigh precision and a wide measurement range for biomedical and industrial applications.

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Area of Science:

Microfluidics
Biomedical Engineering
Measurement Science

Background:

Accurate monitoring of low liquid flow rates is critical in biomedical research and industrial applications.
Existing methods often lack precision, wide range, or require complex equipment.
The drop-counting principle from clinical settings inspired a novel microfluidic approach.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce a novel microfluidic digital meter-on-chip (DMC) technology for precise microflow measurement.
To demonstrate DMC's capability for on-chip, localized measurements with ultrahigh precision and a wide tunable range.
To present a passive, energy-efficient flowmetry solution adaptable for various microfluidic systems.

Main Methods:

Developed a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microfluidic digital meter-on-chip (DMC).
Utilized capillarity to induce interfacial droplet pinch-off for passive flow discretization.
Employed a smartphone-based non-contact optical detection scheme for readout.

Main Results:

Achieved ultrahigh flow-to-frequency sensitivity of 6.59 Hz (μL min^-1)^-1.
Demonstrated droplet transfer volume resolution down to 2.5 nL, enabling measurements of ultralow flow rates (1 μL min^-1).
Established a wide flow rate measurement range from 150 nL min^-1 to 80 μL min^-1.

Conclusions:

The microfluidic digital meter-on-chip (DMC) offers a precise, wide-range, and energy-efficient solution for microflow measurement.
Its passive discretization and smartphone compatibility simplify implementation and reduce equipment needs.
DMC technology is a versatile platform for next-generation microfluidic devices in drug delivery and biochemical analysis.