Critical Study on the Tube-to-Chip Luer Slip Connectors.

Area of Science:

• Microfluidics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Luer slip connectors are standard for microfluidic chip-to-world interfaces, offering robustness with aqueous and solvent-based liquids.
• Key limitations include large dead volumes and significant footprint, hindering integration in high-density microfluidic systems.
• Existing Luer slip designs lack geometrical optimization for miniaturization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish design rules for downscaling Luer slip connectors.
• To reduce connector size and minimize dead volumes for improved microfluidic system integration.

Main Methods:

• Designed and manufactured seven variations of male and five variations of female Luer slip connectors.
• Characterized connector performance using a custom test bench varying closure forces (7.9–55 N) and liquid pressures (0.5–2.0 bar).
• Assessed connector useful life through cycle testing to determine leakage thresholds.

Main Results:

• Developed downscaled Luer slip connectors with reduced dimensions and dead volumes.
• Demonstrated leak-free performance across a range of closure forces and liquid pressures.
• Quantified the number of connection/disconnection cycles before leakage occurs.

Conclusions:

• Geometrical optimization enables significant downscaling of Luer slip connectors.
• Miniaturized connectors maintain robust, leak-free performance crucial for high-density microfluidics.
• This work provides a pathway for more compact and efficient microfluidic device integration.