High-performance PCB-based capillary pumps for affordable Point-of-Care diagnostics
High-performance PCB-based capillary pumps for affordable Point-of-Care diagnostics
Capillary pumps are integral components of passive microfluidic devices. They can displace precise volumes of liquid, avoiding the need for external active components, providing a solution for sample preparation modules in Point-of-Care (PoC) diagnostic platforms. In this work, we describe a variety of high-performance capillary pump designs, suitable for the Lab-on-Printed-Circuit-Board technology (LoPCB). Pumps are fabricated entirely on Printed Circuit Board (PCB) substrates via commercially available manufacturing processes. We demonstrate the concept of LoPCB technology and detail the fabrication method of different architectures of PCB-based capillary pumps. The capillary pumps are combined with microfluidic channels of various hydraulic resistances and characterised experimentally for different micropillar shapes and minimum feature size. Their performance, in terms of flow-rate is reported. Due to the superhydrophilic properties of oxygen plasma treated FR-4 PCB substrate, the capillary pump flow-rates are much higher (138 μL/min, for devices comprising micropillar arrays without preceding microchannel) than comparable devices based on glass, silicon or other polymers. Finally, we comment on the technology’s prospects, such as incorporating more complicated microfluidic networks that can be tailored for assays.
Capillary pumps, Lab-on-PCB, LoPCB, Microfluidics, Micropillars, Point-of-Care diagnostics, PoC, Resistance flow
Vasilakis, Nikolaos
7b5d4280-8c8d-4e55-8d58-6a38ab5c0bb2
Papadimitriou, Konstantinos I.
c0535540-f862-41b1-9cf3-92b1f46a4145
Morgan, Hywel
de00d59f-a5a2-48c4-a99a-1d5dd7854174
Prodromakis, Themistoklis
d58c9c10-9d25-4d22-b155-06c8437acfbf
June 2017
Vasilakis, Nikolaos
7b5d4280-8c8d-4e55-8d58-6a38ab5c0bb2
Papadimitriou, Konstantinos I.
c0535540-f862-41b1-9cf3-92b1f46a4145
Morgan, Hywel
de00d59f-a5a2-48c4-a99a-1d5dd7854174
Prodromakis, Themistoklis
d58c9c10-9d25-4d22-b155-06c8437acfbf
Vasilakis, Nikolaos, Papadimitriou, Konstantinos I., Morgan, Hywel and Prodromakis, Themistoklis
(2017)
High-performance PCB-based capillary pumps for affordable Point-of-Care diagnostics.
Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, 21, [103].
(doi:10.1007/s10404-017-1935-2).
Abstract
Capillary pumps are integral components of passive microfluidic devices. They can displace precise volumes of liquid, avoiding the need for external active components, providing a solution for sample preparation modules in Point-of-Care (PoC) diagnostic platforms. In this work, we describe a variety of high-performance capillary pump designs, suitable for the Lab-on-Printed-Circuit-Board technology (LoPCB). Pumps are fabricated entirely on Printed Circuit Board (PCB) substrates via commercially available manufacturing processes. We demonstrate the concept of LoPCB technology and detail the fabrication method of different architectures of PCB-based capillary pumps. The capillary pumps are combined with microfluidic channels of various hydraulic resistances and characterised experimentally for different micropillar shapes and minimum feature size. Their performance, in terms of flow-rate is reported. Due to the superhydrophilic properties of oxygen plasma treated FR-4 PCB substrate, the capillary pump flow-rates are much higher (138 μL/min, for devices comprising micropillar arrays without preceding microchannel) than comparable devices based on glass, silicon or other polymers. Finally, we comment on the technology’s prospects, such as incorporating more complicated microfluidic networks that can be tailored for assays.
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Microcapillary pump with micropillars for LoPCB_AcceptMan
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s10404-017-1935-2
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Accepted/In Press date: 8 May 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 24 May 2017
Published date: June 2017
Keywords:
Capillary pumps, Lab-on-PCB, LoPCB, Microfluidics, Micropillars, Point-of-Care diagnostics, PoC, Resistance flow
Organisations:
Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology, Electronics & Computer Science
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 408306
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/408306
ISSN: 1613-4982
PURE UUID: ce246ddf-2084-4020-adc1-3af85f0913e0
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Date deposited: 19 May 2017 04:02
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 05:21
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Contributors
Author:
Nikolaos Vasilakis
Author:
Konstantinos I. Papadimitriou
Author:
Hywel Morgan
Author:
Themistoklis Prodromakis
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