Pneumatic micro-valve integrated in micro-flow control chip

Abstract

The invention discloses a pneumatic micro-valve integrated in a micro-flow control chip. The pneumatic micro-valve comprises at least one closed cavity which is composed of a control channel and a compressible air bag, wherein an elastic film is used as a side wall of the control channel; the side wall is a common wall intersected by a fluid channel of the micro-flow control chip and the control channel; the control channel is communicated with the compressible air bag; the other end of the compressible air bag is communicated with the outside; and the end part of the compressible air bag is closed by the elastic film. The pneumatic micro-valve integrated in the micro-flow control chip provided by the invention is free from using an external high-pressure air cylinder and a pressure regulating device required by a conventional micro-flow control pneumatic valve; the pressure required by the operation of the pneumatic micro-valve is supplied through a simple action of extruding the air bag; and the pneumatic micro-valve integrated in the micro-flow control chip has the advantages of low cost, convenience in operation, small size, portability, and the like, and is suitable for a portable micro-flow control analysis system.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a pneumatic microvalve integrated in a microfluidic chip, belonging to the technical field of microfluidic chips. Background technique [0002] Microvalve is one of the most important functional units used to realize microfluidic manipulation in microfluidic chips, and its basic function is to realize the conduction and isolation of fluid channels. Among many microvalve technologies, the pneumatic microvalve proposed by the Quake research group in 2000 has become the most researched and applied microfluidic chip due to its advantages of simple structure, fast response speed, and easy large-scale integration. Extensive microvalve technology. [0003] The pneumatic microvalve on the microfluidic chip is mainly composed of two vertical intersecting fluid channels and an elastic film sandwiched between the two channels, one of which is a fluid channel for fluid transmission in the chip; the other channel is a control channel , ge...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0004] However, the existing pneumatic microvalve has the following limitations: the operation of pneumatic valves often requires an external pressure source to provide working pressure. The current external pressure source mainly uses high-pressure cylinders (such as high-pressure air, high-pressure nitrogen, etc.), and requires A set of special pressure regulators are used to adjust the air pressure. These devices are not only bulky, bulky, difficult to carry, but also expensive; in addition, the working state of the pneumatic valve requires an external pressure source to maintain a constant pressure

The above characteristics make it difficult for traditional pneumatic microvalves to be widely used in small, portable and disposable microfluidic chips.

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