Selected Papers from the 2nd International Conference on Microfluidic Handling Systems

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2014) | Viewed by 50409

Special Issue Editors

1. Laboratory for MEMS Applications, IMTEK, Department of Microsystems Engineering, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
2. BioFluidix GmbH, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
1. Integrated Devices and Systems (IDS), MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
2. Bronkhorst High-Tech BV, Nijverheidsstraat 1A, 7261 AK Ruurlo, The Netherlands
Interests: Design, modelling, fabrication and application of microfluidic handling systems, including MEMS thermal and Coriolis flow sensors and controllers, MEMS pressure sensors, MEMS control valves and micromachined flow analysis sytems such as multiparameter flow measurement systems and micro Wobbe index meters
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Sensor Technology, IMTEK, Department of Microsystems Engineering, University of Freiburg, Georges Koehler Allee 103, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
Interests: microbiosensorarrays; lab-on-chip; electrophoresis on chip; thermal MEMS; nanostructured surfaces; biocompatible surfaces; biomedical in-vivo sensors; immunochips; RNA-analytics on chip
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This special issue will publish selected papers from the 2nd International Conference on Microfluidic Handling Systems (http://www.mfhs2014.uni-freiburg.de/), 8–10 October 2014, Freiburg, Germany. Manuscripts submitted to the journal of Micromachines should be extended by at least 40% compared with the conference one.

Worldwide, accurate handling—i.e., analysis, dosage, measurement and control—of small and extremely small mass flow rates of both gases and liquids is becoming more and more important, driven by numerous applications. Examples of economically and societally relevant applications are, e.g., improvement of medical infusion pump systems, increasing the efficiency of processes that extract oil from oil wells (enhanced oil recovery), systems that measure the energy content (calorific value or Wobbe Index) of natural gas and biogas, monitoring of ground water pollution and the production of pharmaceuticals by means of flow chemistry.

Whether in analytical instrumentation, flow chemistry, energy, semiconductor industry, food and beverage or life sciences, microfluidic handling systems are facing 3 major trends: (1) accurate measurement and calibration facilities, (2) complete functional systems rather than individual components, e.g. flow analysis systems, and flow dosage systems, and (3) commercialisation of research. In the future, the impact of this field of research may become bigger, and large target markets may potentially arise, especially when spin-off companies start manufacturing and selling their products, systems or pilot plants.

The 2nd International Conference on Microfluidic Handling Systems (MFHS 2014) focuses mainly on the technology, components, devices and systems that enable the application in microfluidic systems. We invite submission of papers on systems and devices for accurate handling (e.g., dosing, measurement and control) of (extremely) small mass flow rates of both gases and liquids, and corresponding measurement and control principles:

  • Thermal, ultrasonic and Coriolis principles for flow measurement
  • The piezo-electric, electromagnetic and electrostatic principles for flow control
  • Electronic instrumentation
  • Application proposals
  • Innovative methods in calibration equipment and methodology
  • Micro- and nanomachining
  • Device characterization

The topics include but are not limited to:

  • Sensors: flow, pressure, viscosity, temperature, conductivity, heat capacity, density
  • Actuators: valves, pumps, mixers, droplet generators
  • Interfaces: electronic instrumentation, interconnections, assembly, technology
  • Fluidic control systems: mass flow controllers, precision mixing, dosing and dispensing, calibration
  • Applications: gas chromatographs, liquid chromatographs, medical analyses, micro reaction systems, bio-analytical systems

Dr. Peter Koltay
Dr. Joost Lötters
Prof. Dr. Gerald A. Urban
Conference Co-Chairs
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (6 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

6344 KiB  
Article
Cell Size Discrimination Based on the Measurement of the Equilibrium Velocity in Rectangular Microchannels
by Lisa Schott, Christian Sommer, Joern Wittek, Khaliun Myagmar, Thomas Walther and Michael Baßler
Micromachines 2015, 6(5), 634-647; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mi6050634 - 22 May 2015
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 6784
Abstract
Flow cytometry is a well-established diagnostic tool for cell counting and characterization. It utilizes fluorescence and scattered excitation light simultaneously emitted from cells passing an excitation laser focus to discriminate various cell types and estimate cell size. Here, we apply the principle of [...] Read more.
Flow cytometry is a well-established diagnostic tool for cell counting and characterization. It utilizes fluorescence and scattered excitation light simultaneously emitted from cells passing an excitation laser focus to discriminate various cell types and estimate cell size. Here, we apply the principle of spatially modulated emission (SME) to fluorescently stained SUP-B15 cells as a model system for cancer cells and Marinococcus luteus as model for bacteria. We demonstrate that the experimental apparatus is able to detect these model cells and that the results are comparable to those obtained by a commercially available CASY® TT Counter. Furthermore, by examining the velocity distribution of the cells, we observe clear relationships between cell condition/size and cell velocity. Thus, the cell velocity provides information comparable to the scatter signal in conventional flow cytometry. These results indicate that the SME technique is a promising method for simultaneous cell counting and viability characterization. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

7169 KiB  
Article
Nano-Workbench: A Combined Hollow AFM Cantilever and Robotic Manipulator
by Héctor Hugo Pérez Garza, Murali Krishna Ghatkesar, Shibabrata Basak, Per Löthman and Urs Staufer
Micromachines 2015, 6(5), 600-610; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mi6050600 - 13 May 2015
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 6462
Abstract
To manipulate liquid matter at the nanometer scale, we have developed a robotic assembly equipped with a hollow atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever that can handle femtolitre volumes of liquid. The assembly consists of four independent robots, each sugar cube sized with four [...] Read more.
To manipulate liquid matter at the nanometer scale, we have developed a robotic assembly equipped with a hollow atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever that can handle femtolitre volumes of liquid. The assembly consists of four independent robots, each sugar cube sized with four degrees of freedom. All robots are placed on a single platform around the sample forming a nano-workbench (NWB). Each robot can travel the entire platform and has a minimum position resolution of 5 nm both in-plane and out-of-plane. The cantilever chip was glued to the robotic arm. Dispensing was done by the capillarity between the substrate and the cantilever tip, and was monitored visually through a microscope. To evaluate the performance of the NWB, we have performed three experiments: clamping of graphene with epoxy, mixing of femtolitre volume droplets to synthesize gold nanoparticles and accurately dispense electrolyte liquid for a nanobattery. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

1463 KiB  
Article
Low Flow Liquid Calibration Setup
by Tom H. Platenkamp, Wouter Sparreboom, Gijs H. J. M. Ratering, Marcel R. Katerberg and Joost Lötters
Micromachines 2015, 6(4), 473-486; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mi6040473 - 22 Apr 2015
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 5612
Abstract
This article describes a primary calibration setup, and its uncertainty, for low flow liquid calibrations at Bronkhorst High-Tech. It will be used to calibrate reference flow meters from 1 to 200 g/h. By setting up an uncertainty budget for this setup, the calibration [...] Read more.
This article describes a primary calibration setup, and its uncertainty, for low flow liquid calibrations at Bronkhorst High-Tech. It will be used to calibrate reference flow meters from 1 to 200 g/h. By setting up an uncertainty budget for this setup, the calibration of the instruments can be compared to that of NMI’s (National Metrology Institutes). The uncertainty budget consists of mass, time and mass flow uncertainties/corrections that need to be taken in to account for determining the traceable mass flow. Tests results of different flow meters/actuators measured on the setup support the calculated uncertainty. By participating in an intercomparison with NMI’s the measurement and uncertainty of this setup is traceable to European NMI’s. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

2897 KiB  
Article
Multi Parameter Flow Meter for On-Line Measurement of Gas Mixture Composition
by Egbert Van der Wouden, Jarno Groenesteijn, Remco Wiegerink and Joost Lötters
Micromachines 2015, 6(4), 452-461; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mi6040452 - 10 Apr 2015
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6753
Abstract
In this paper we describe the development of a system and model to analyze the composition of gas mixtures up to four components. The system consists of a Coriolis mass flow sensor, density, pressure and thermal flow sensor. With this system it is [...] Read more.
In this paper we describe the development of a system and model to analyze the composition of gas mixtures up to four components. The system consists of a Coriolis mass flow sensor, density, pressure and thermal flow sensor. With this system it is possible to measure the viscosity, density, heat capacity and flow rate of the medium. In a next step the composition can be analyzed if the constituents of the mixture are known. This makes the approach universally applicable to all gasses as long as the number of components does not exceed the number of measured properties and as long as the properties are measured with a sufficient accuracy. We present measurements with binary and ternary gas mixtures, on compositions that range over an order of magnitude in value for the physical properties. Two platforms for analyses are presented. The first platform consists of sensors realized with MEMS fabrication technology. This approach allows for a system with a high level of integration. With this system we demonstrate a proof of principle for the analyses of binary mixtures with an accuracy of 10%. In the second platform we utilize more mature steel sensor technology to demonstrate the potential of this approach. We show that with this technique, binary mixtures can be measured within 1% and ternary gas mixtures within 3%. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

5300 KiB  
Article
3D Printed Unibody Lab-on-a-Chip: Features Survey and Check-Valves Integration
by Germán Comina, Anke Suska and Daniel Filippini
Micromachines 2015, 6(4), 437-451; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mi6040437 - 07 Apr 2015
Cited by 45 | Viewed by 9325
Abstract
The unibody lab-on-a-chip (ULOC) concept entails a fast and affordable micro-prototyping system built around a single monolithic 3D printed element (unibody). A consumer-grade stereo lithography (SL) 3D printer can configure ULOCs with different forms of sample delivery, transport, handling and readout, while minimizing [...] Read more.
The unibody lab-on-a-chip (ULOC) concept entails a fast and affordable micro-prototyping system built around a single monolithic 3D printed element (unibody). A consumer-grade stereo lithography (SL) 3D printer can configure ULOCs with different forms of sample delivery, transport, handling and readout, while minimizing material costs and fabrication time. ULOC centralizes all complex fabrication procedures and replaces the need for clean room resources, delivering prototypes for less than 1 US$, which can be printed in 10 min and ready for testing in less than 30 min. Recent examples of ULOC integration of transport, chemical sensing for optical readout and flow mixing capabilities are discussed, as well as the integration of the first check-valves for ULOC devices. ULOC valves are strictly unidirectional up to 100 psi, show an exponential forward flow behavior up to 70 psi and can be entirely fabricated with the ULOC approach. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

1684 KiB  
Article
A Disposable Dispensing Valve for Non-Contact Microliter Applications in a 96-Well Plate Format
by Sabrina Kartmann, Peter Koltay, Roland Zengerle and Andreas Ernst
Micromachines 2015, 6(4), 423-436; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/mi6040423 - 03 Apr 2015
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 11869
Abstract
We present a miniaturized, disposable, normally-closed electromagnetic dispensing valve for the microliter range to process 96-well plates. The novel injection-molded valve is designed to fit into a 9 mm grid to realize an eight channel dispensing head, enabling the serial processing of well [...] Read more.
We present a miniaturized, disposable, normally-closed electromagnetic dispensing valve for the microliter range to process 96-well plates. The novel injection-molded valve is designed to fit into a 9 mm grid to realize an eight channel dispensing head, enabling the serial processing of well plates row-by-row. The presented dispensing valve design originates from a miniaturization study of a previously developed functional model. The outer diameter of the valve, including all actuating components, was reduced by 8 mm to an overall diameter of 8.5 mm without compromising the performance. Additionally, the actuation current of the valve could be reduced to 5 A. The valve is characterized for a volume range between 840 nL and 5.3 μL. The performance of the injection molded valve is competitive to commercially available dispensing valves, featuring the advantages of low fabrication costs, disposability, low mounting size, easy handling, and super silent actuation. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop