An automatic microfluidic sample transfer and introduction system

We report an easily setup, reliable and automatic microfluidic sample transfer and introduction system. Two different function liquid detection modules were developed to separately perform rapidly removing of a large approximate volume of air off chip and a low-speed high precision small volume of air purging process on chip incorporating liquid-on-chip handling module. As a proof of concept, we demonstrated that a small volume of radioactive sample as low as 5 μL could be successfully transferred and introduced from vials to the desired location in the microfluidic chip with minimal loss (2.1 ± 0.4 %, n = 3). The total time of the sample transfer and introduction was less than 1 min. The complete automation would facilitate the safe handling of the dangerous and toxic materials, such as radioactive compound.