Microfluidic valve and integrated microfluidic system
First Claim
1. A first microfluidic valve for controlling a flow of a fluid through an elongated capillary that is enclosed along at least one surface by a layer of a malleable material, the capillary having an inlet port and an outlet port, the microfluidic valve comprising:
- a valve housing adapted to be pressed firmly against the layer of malleable material;
an actuator secured within said valve housing for producing movement toward or away from the layer of malleable material upon application of a control signal to the actuator; and
a blade coupled to the actuator and shaped so that movement produced by the actuator toward the layer of malleable material presses the blade against the layer of malleable material thereby occluding the capillary and barring fluid from flowing from the inlet port to the outlet port, and whereby, upon retracting the blade away from the layer of malleable material, fluid introduced into the inlet port of the capillary may flow through the capillary to exit the capillary through the outlet port.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A microfluidic delivery system (20) and microfluidic system (100) control flows of a liquid or a gas through elongated capillaries (62, 126) that are enclosed along at least one surface by a layer (42, 114) of a malleable material. An electrically-powered actuator included in the systems (20, 100) extends toward or retracts a blade from the layer (42, 114) of a malleable material to either occlude or open capillaries. Reservoirs (46, 124) included in a pouch (22, 108) together with the capillaries (62, 126) supply fluids whose flow is controlled by movement of the blades. The microfluidic system (100) permits dispensing at will, under microprocessor control at predetermined flow rates, liquids, samples, chemicals, reagents and body fluids, and mixing them together and/or reacting for diagnostic medical or analytical tests, DNA sequencing etc. The microfluidic delivery system (20) and microfluidic system (100) may be used for clinical testing, environmental or forensic testing, analytical chemistry, fine chemistry, biological sciences, combinatorial synthesis, etc.
276 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A first microfluidic valve for controlling a flow of a fluid through an elongated capillary that is enclosed along at least one surface by a layer of a malleable material, the capillary having an inlet port and an outlet port, the microfluidic valve comprising:
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a valve housing adapted to be pressed firmly against the layer of malleable material; an actuator secured within said valve housing for producing movement toward or away from the layer of malleable material upon application of a control signal to the actuator; and a blade coupled to the actuator and shaped so that movement produced by the actuator toward the layer of malleable material presses the blade against the layer of malleable material thereby occluding the capillary and barring fluid from flowing from the inlet port to the outlet port, and whereby, upon retracting the blade away from the layer of malleable material, fluid introduced into the inlet port of the capillary may flow through the capillary to exit the capillary through the outlet port. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A pouch adapted for use with a microfluidic valve that is adapted for controllably releasing a flow of a fluid from the pouch, the microfluidic valve including:
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a base plate having a planar anvil surface and base-plate registration means; and a valve housing adapted to be mated with and urged toward the anvil surface of said base plate, said valve housing including an actuator that producing movement toward or away from the layer of malleable material upon application of a control signal to the actuator, said valve housing also including a blade coupled to the actuator and shaped so that movement of the actuator juxtaposes the blade with the anvil surface; the pouch comprising; a layer of malleable material having formed therein a reservoir that is adapted for holding a quantity of the fluid, said pouch including a substantially planar, elongated, paddle-shaped nozzle that projects outward from the reservoir and is adapted to be juxtaposed with the anvil surface of said base plate interposed between the blade of said valve housing and the anvil surface, the nozzle including a nozzle registration means that mates with and engages the base-plate registration means of said base plate, the nozzle also having an elongated capillary formed within the nozzle that communicates directly with the reservoir, the capillary being disposed accurately between the blade and the anvil surface when the nozzle registration means mates with and engages the base-plate registration means of said base plate, the capillary also including a outlet port opening distal from the reservoir, whereby, upon retracting the blade away from the anvil surface of said base plate, pressure applied to said pouch about the reservoir urges fluid in the reservoir to flow out of said pouch along the capillary and through the outlet port, and whereby extending the blade toward the anvil surface presses the malleable material of the nozzle together thereby occluding the capillary and barring fluid from flowing from said pouch along the capillary. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A microfluidic system for controlling a flow of a fluid comprising:
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a pouch having a capillary that is enclosed along at least one surface by a layer of a malleable material, the capillary having an inlet port and an outlet port, the layer of malleable material also being shaped to provide a processing chamber that is located along the capillary intermediate the inlet port and the outlet port; a pair of valve housings adapted to be pressed firmly against the layer of malleable material, a first one of said valve housings being located intermediate said processing chamber and the inlet port of the capillary, a second one of said valve housings being located intermediate said processing chamber and the outlet port of the capillary; a pair of actuators, one actuator being secured within each of said valve housings producing movement toward or away from the layer of malleable material upon application of a control signal to the actuator; a pair of blades, each blade being coupled to one of said actuators, and each of said blades being shaped so movement of the actuator to which the blade is coupled toward the layer of malleable material juxtaposes such blade with the capillary and presses the blade against the layer of malleable material thereby occluding the capillary and barring the fluid from flowing through the capillary, and whereby, upon retracting the blade away from the layer of malleable material, fluid introduced into the capillary may flow through the capillary; and a piston having a face that is adapted for controllably depressing the malleable material of said pouch about said processing chamber, the face of said piston being juxtaposed with said processing chamber. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A microfluidic system for controlling flows of a fluid through a plurality of interconnected, elongated capillaries that are all enclosed along at least one surface by a layer of a malleable material, each capillary having an inlet port and an outlet port, the microfluidic system comprising:
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a plurality of valve housings adapted to be pressed firmly against the layer of malleable material; a plurality of actuators equal in number to the plurality of valve housings, each actuator being secured within one of said valve housings; and
each of said actuators producing movement toward or away from the layer of malleable material upon application of a control signal to said actuator; anda plurality of blades equal in number to the plurality of valve housings and actuators, each blade being coupled to one of said actuators, and each of said blades being shaped so movement of the actuator to which the blade is coupled toward the layer of malleable material juxtaposes such blade with one of the capillaries and presses the blade against the layer of malleable material thereby occluding the capillary and barring the fluid from flowing from the inlet port to the outlet port, and whereby, upon retracting the blade away from the layer of malleable material, fluid introduced into the inlet port of the capillary may flow through the capillary to exit the capillary through the outlet port of the capillary. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification