Microfluidics offer benefits for automation and miniaturisation

Every day, new types of machines and equipment are being designed and developed that push forward the boundaries of medical science. In this continuing offensive, specialist microfluidic products for medical, biomedical and analytical applications are playing a key role, delivering, through automation and miniaturisation, greater efficiency in existing processes (faster sequences, higher throughput, smaller sample and solvent volumes and lower costs), and enabling newer processes to be developed in areas such as genetic research, chromatography and pharmaceuticals.

Significant amounts of research and development have been undertaken over the last few years with the objective of achieving improvements across a wide range of processes; for example, in doping analysis, tracing in food or meat, or in bio-chip analysis. The resulting systems involve a high level of automation - especially those in pharmaceutical and medical applications, biotechnology or biochemistry. This automation enables higher throughput, reduces costs and eliminates the errors that occur in manual operations.

Miniaturised fluidic components have become essential in this automation evolution, and are now a prerequisite in a wide range of new processes. Initially confined to micro-pumps and microvalves, microfluidic components now include miniaturised sensors for pressure, temperature and flow control, all of which are vital for coping successfully with the challenges of low-volume liquid handling. This ability is particularly important in IVD and pharmaceuticals, where increasingly expensive reagents and samples are used. These may be small in quantity, but not in price; their cost sometimes extends to several hundred pounds for a few millilitres.

Moreover, the solvents and reagents now in use are stronger and more aggressive, and are used in higher concentrations compared with those of just a few years ago. As a result, highly resistant materials such as PTFE, PEEK and FFKM are required for wetted parts to ensure that isolation of the media is not negated by chemical attacks.

Customer-supplier relationships

All of the above considerations, and the fact that it is essential to design miniaturised fluidic components that allow easy adaptation and/or integration into different applications, mean that it is vitally important to include the microfluidic supplier at the development stage of any new equipment processes. From the customer's point of view, highly integrated systems are not only easier to assemble, but the combination of components within specific manifolds benefiting from optimised fluid channel design, valve components, sensors and control electronics offers a high level of functionality. This starts with simple, functionally-integrated manifolds and leads on to highly sophisticated and customer-defined control systems.

System not only offer economic advantages in terms of TCO (total cost of ownership), but they also provide a functional guarantee from a single supplier, as well as technical benefits such as a reduction in internal volumes and fluidic interfaces (hence the risk of contamination is reduced) and an optimised interaction between functional units including sensors, pumps, valves and controllers. Moreover, the integrative approach and material know-how of a system supplier also ease dealing with technical challenges - for example, the use of aggressive solvents such as Pyridine, THF, dichloromethane and acetonitrile.

Microfluidic components in a customised systems are characterised by their size (width per station is typically 4.5mm) and their performance, with dosing rates down to a few nanolitres. As a result, they meet the demanding requirements of cost-conscious miniaturisation. In addition, they provide two other essential operating qualities: reliable, continuous operation and modular flexibility.

For continuous, reliable operation, microfluidic components offer key benefits, such as freedom from wear and tear, short response times, low power consumption, and an operating life of up to 100million valve cycles.

As regards modular flexibility, this recognises that devices constructed using microfluidic components must perform greatly differing tasks with frequently similar sub-functions - dosing or mixing, for example - in their overall function. Accordingly, the logical requirements in the design of microfluidic components are: a variety of body types, interchangeability of components, modular systems with standard centre spacings and the facility for application-specific additional developments.

New microfluidics brochure

Burkert's new microfluidics brochure highlights how automation and miniaturisation are coming together in highly integrated, customised fluidic systems that provide more advantages than standard products in critical medical, biomedical and analytical fluid control applications. These systems are improving established processes substantially, not only in terms of higher speed and improved throughput, but also through reduced costs, as smaller sample and solvent volumes are required.

Free copies of the new MicroFluidics brochure can be obtained by using the callback and information request buttons at the top of the article.