Micropumps move mediums in minilab
Analyses to check for antibodies and other biological components have previously been carried out in large laboratories. Now, flexible and fast diagnoses are facilitated by point of care systems, portable labs which make it possible to do the tests directly on the patient.
Gases and liquids in such miniaturized systems – so-called liquid handling – are transported by micropumps from Bartels Mikrotechnik GmbH. They ensure that samples and reagents reach the microchannels of the analysis chip so it can provide a result. In this indirect pumping method the pump does not move the reagents itself; it is actually a gas buffer which sets the medium in motion. It uses so little energy for this that it can be driven by a battery.
It is miniaturization which makes it possible to create such small and portable analysis platforms. At just 30 x 15 x 3.8 millimeters, the pump from Dortmund is small enough to be integrated in a microfluidic chip. The small components are so cheap that they can also be disposed off after use, doing away with the need for complex cleaning.
Thanks to innovative measuring methods, several tests can be implemented in the lab-on-a-chip simultaneously. In addition to uses in human diagnostics, mini labs are also applied in veterinary medicine, foodstuffs monitoring or for drug tests.
Actions for this page: recommend | add to favorites | print
