Rapid laser prototyping of valves for microfluidic autonomous systems

Capillary forces in microfluidics provide a simple yet elegant means to direct liquids through flow channel networks. The ability to manipulate the flow in a truly automated manner has proven more problematic. The majority of valves require some form of flow control devices, which are manually, mechanically or electrically driven. Most demonstrated capillary systems have been manufactured by photolithography, which, despite its high precision and repeatability, can be labour intensive, requires a clean room environment and the use of fixed photomasks, limiting thereby the agility of the manufacturing process to readily examine alternative designs. In this paper, we describe a robust and rapid CO2 laser manufacturing process and demonstrate a range of capillary-driven microfluidic valve structures embedded within a microfluidic network. The manufacturing process described allows for advanced control and manipulation of fluids such that flow can be halted, triggered and delayed based on simple geometrical alterations to a given microchannel. The rapid prototyping methodology has been employed with PMMA substrates and a complete device has been created, ready for use, within 2–3 h. We believe that this agile manufacturing process can be applied to produce a range of complex autonomous fluidic platforms and allows subsequent designs to be rapidly explored.

[1]  Göran Stemme,et al.  Hydrophobic valves of plasma deposited octafluorocyclobutane in DRIE channels , 2001 .

[2]  D. Beebe,et al.  Flow control with hydrogels. , 2004, Advanced drug delivery reviews.

[3]  E. Delamarche,et al.  Microfluidics for Processing Surfaces and Miniaturizing Biological Assays , 2005 .

[4]  Roland Zengerle,et al.  Dye-based coatings for hydrophobic valves and their application to polymer labs-on-a-chip , 2010 .

[5]  M. Burns,et al.  Microfabricated capillarity-driven stop valve and sample injector , 1998, Proceedings MEMS 98. IEEE. Eleventh Annual International Workshop on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. An Investigation of Micro Structures, Sensors, Actuators, Machines and Systems (Cat. No.98CH36176.

[6]  Martina Hitzbleck,et al.  Capillary soft valves for microfluidics. , 2012, Lab on a chip.

[7]  Jerry M Chen,et al.  Analysis and experiment of capillary valves for microfluidics on a rotating disk , 2008 .

[8]  William H. Grover,et al.  Monolithic membrane valves and diaphragm pumps for practical large-scale integration into glass microfluidic devices , 2003 .

[9]  Robin H. Liu,et al.  Single-use, thermally actuated paraffin valves for microfluidic applications , 2004 .

[10]  C. K. Khan Malek,et al.  Laser processing for bio-microfluidics applications (part I) , 2006, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[11]  Alain Glière,et al.  Modeling and fabrication of capillary stop valves for planar microfluidic systems , 2006 .

[12]  Gil Garnier,et al.  Paper diagnostic for instantaneous blood typing. , 2010, Analytical chemistry.

[13]  Heng Qi,et al.  Fabrication and characterization of a polymethyl methacrylate continuous-flow PCR microfluidic chip using CO2 laser ablation , 2009 .

[14]  Frantisek Svec,et al.  Flow control valves for analytical microfluidic chips without mechanical parts based on thermally responsive monolithic polymers. , 2003, Analytical chemistry.

[15]  Heinz Schmid,et al.  Microfluidic Networks for Chemical Patterning of Substrates: Design and Application to Bioassays , 1998 .

[16]  S Elizabeth Hulme,et al.  Incorporation of prefabricated screw, pneumatic, and solenoid valves into microfluidic devices. , 2009, Lab on a chip.

[17]  Tzong-Shyng Leu,et al.  Pressure barrier of capillary stop valves in micro sample separators , 2004 .

[18]  Jens Anders Branebjerg,et al.  Microfluidics-a review , 1993 .

[19]  D. Erickson,et al.  Integrated microfluidic devices , 2004 .

[20]  S. Quake,et al.  Monolithic microfabricated valves and pumps by multilayer soft lithography. , 2000, Science.

[21]  Ryutaro Maeda,et al.  A pneumatically-actuated three-way microvalve fabricated with polydimethylsiloxane using the membrane transfer technique , 2000 .

[22]  Oliver Geschke,et al.  CO(2)-laser micromachining and back-end processing for rapid production of PMMA-based microfluidic systems. , 2002, Lab on a chip.

[23]  Chit Yaw Fu,et al.  Integration of optical fiber light guide, fluorescence detection system, and multichannel disposable microfluidic chip , 2007, Biomedical microdevices.

[24]  Patrick Hunziker,et al.  Valves for autonomous capillary systems , 2008 .

[25]  Robin H. Liu,et al.  Functional hydrogel structures for autonomous flow control inside microfluidic channels , 2000, Nature.

[26]  G. Whitesides,et al.  Understanding wax printing: a simple micropatterning process for paper-based microfluidics. , 2009, Analytical chemistry.

[27]  Göran Stemme,et al.  Expandable microspheres for the handling of liquids. , 2002, Lab on a chip.

[28]  D. Citterio,et al.  Inkjet-printed microfluidic multianalyte chemical sensing paper. , 2008, Analytical chemistry.

[29]  E. Delamarche,et al.  Capillary pumps for autonomous capillary systems. , 2007, Lab on a chip.

[30]  Ute Drechsler,et al.  Autonomous microfluidic capillary system. , 2002, Analytical chemistry.

[31]  Bo Liedberg,et al.  Silane-dextran chemistry on lateral flow polymer chips for immunoassays. , 2008, Lab on a chip.

[32]  G. Whitesides,et al.  Torque-actuated valves for microfluidics. , 2005, Analytical chemistry.

[33]  Chong H. Ahn,et al.  Institute of Physics Publishing Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering a Review of Microvalves , 2022 .

[34]  Jijun Xiong,et al.  Passive valves based on hydrophobic microfluidics , 2003 .

[35]  Chee Yoon Yue,et al.  CO2-laser micromachining of PMMA: the effect of polymer molecular weight , 2008 .

[36]  Marc P Y Desmulliez,et al.  Lab-on-a-chip based immunosensor principles and technologies for the detection of cardiac biomarkers: a review. , 2011, Lab on a chip.

[37]  Samuel K Sia,et al.  Actuation of elastomeric microvalves in point-of-care settings using handheld, battery-powered instrumentation. , 2010, Lab on a chip.