The design and fabrication of a magnetically actuated microfluidic dispensing device

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the design, fabrication technique and testing methods for a novel dispensing device, targeted for pipetting precise volumes of fluid into integrated fluidic devices.

A novel technique to displace fluid, in the nanolitre volume range, using a para-magnetic bead plug was proposed and subsequently demonstrated.  Actuation of the dispensing technique is achieved using (i) a moving permanent magnet and (ii) sequentially actuated electromagnets.  The use of magnetically actuated paramagnetic bead plugs of different sizes in fluidic channels, was proven to provide an approach to displace nanolitre volumes of fluid.

Following this demonstration, an integrated microfabricated silicon device was designed and fabricated.  The integrated microdevice includes thick gold microcoils and a fluidic channel containing the paramagnetic beads.  The transport and separation of paramagnetic beads was demonstrated and quantified.

The fluid displacement technique investigated here is compact and simple to produce and the device has no moving parts.  It was shown to be possible to carry out repeatable dispensing, of variable volumes of fluid, using a reciprocating paramagnetic bead plug.  This is the first practical demonstration of the pipetting of small volumes, within a fluidic channel, utilising paramagnetic beads as a plunger.  An integrated silicon microdevice was fabricated to demonstrate the feasibility for fluid dispensing.

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