A Compact Control System to Enable Automated Operation of Microfluidic Bioanalytical Assays

Abstract

We describe a control system for operating valve-enabled microfluidic devices and leverage this control system to carry out a complex workflow of plasma separation from 8 μL of whole blood followed by on-chip mixing of plasma with assay reagents for biomarker detection. The control system incorporates pumps, digital pressure sensors, a microcontroller, solenoid valves and off-the-shelf components to deliver high and low air pressure in the desired temporal sequence to meter fluid flow and actuate microvalves. Importantly, our control system is portable, which is suitable for operating the microvalve-enabled microfluidic devices in the point-of-care setting.