Disclosed are techniques such as roll to roll processing to produce membrane valves in microelectromechanical systems that are integrated with micro-pumps that include a pump body having compartmentalized pump chambers. One application of this technology is as a valve assembly for a gas concentrator that includes a first micro pump for feeding an input gas stream, a second micro pump to supplying a vacuum and at least one sieve bed having a zeolite. The gas concentrator uses the valve assembly for controlling entry of gas from the first micro pump into the sieve bed and the second micro pump to vent.

Fluidic multiwell bioreactors are provided as a microphysiological platform for in vitro investigation of multi-organ crosstalks for an extended period of time of at least weeks and months. The disclosed platform is featured with one or more improvements over existing bioreactors, including on-board pumping for pneumatically driven fluid flow, a redesigned spillway for self-leveling from source to sink, a non-contact built-in fluid level sensing device, precise control on fluid flow profile and partitioning, and facile reconfigurations such as daisy chaining and multilayer stacking. The platform supports the culture of multiple organs in a microphysiological, interacted systems, suitable for a wide range of biomedical applications including systemic toxicity studies and physiology-based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic predictions. A process to fabricate the disclosed bioreactors is also provided.

A microfluidic valve, includes arranging a substrate of a mechanically inert material to one or more physicochemical properties over time, configuring a structural portion of the valve; additive layer manufacturing to print, a succession of one or more filaments of a material with mechanical response to one or more of said physicochemical properties over time, preferably LCP, configuring a functional portion of the valve; and arranging the succession of filaments on the substrate, configuring a fluid flow rate through the valve using the application of an anti-adhesion treatment on one or more interfaces of said filaments and the substrate.

The present invention discloses a path-type liquid medicine delivery electro-osmosis pump that can be applied to a wearable medicine device. An electro osmosis pump according to the present invention includes: a connector provided with a liquid medicine inlet and a liquid medicine outlet; a check valve assembly combined to one side of the connector; and a driver that is connected to the other side of the connector and moves the liquid medicine toward the liquid medicine outlet by applying pressure to the liquid medicine while being separated from the liquid medicine, which passes through the check valve assembly.

One example includes a device that may include a heating element and a molecular binding site. The heating element may heat a fluid volume, interfaced with the heating element, in response to a voltage being applied to the heating element, the heat transforming the fluid volume from a liquid state into a vaporized state to generate fluid motion within the fluid volume. The molecular binding site may be disposed proximate to the heating element, in which a portion of the fluid volume expands when the fluid volume transforms from the liquid state into the vaporized state, the vaporized state of the fluid volume generating the fluid motion within a target fluid that is disposed within the molecular binding site.

An open-type liquid manipulation device can divide liquid, in particular, a droplet efficiently. The open-type liquid manipulation device according to the present invention includes: a substrate 1, 11, 21; at least three electrodes 2, 12, 13, 22, 23 located on a front surface 1b, 11b, 21b of the substrate 1, 11, 21; and an insulating layer 3, 14, 24 located over the front surface 1b, 11b, 21b of the substrate 1, 11, 21 to cover the at least three electrodes 2, 12, 13, 22, 23. The device includes a groove 4, 15, 25 that is concave in a direction from a front surface 3b, 14b, 24b of the insulating layer 3, 14, 24 toward a back surface 3a, 14a, 24a of the insulating layer 3, 14, 24. The groove 4, 15, 25 extends straddling the at least three electrodes. Liquid L is controlled on the front surface 3b, 14b, 24b of the insulating layer 3, 14, 24 by using a change in electrostatic force generated by changing voltage applied to the electrodes 2, 12, 13, 22, 23.

A vapor-pressure driven micro pump system comprising an enclosure of a supporting structure; a first chamber having a first volatile material as a propellant with a plurality of exit nozzles; a second chamber have a second volatile material inside of a collapsible diaphragm which separates the first and the second chambers within said enclosure, wherein a vacuum at the plurality of exit nozzles causes vaporization of said propellant, which is compensated and displaced by vapor of said second volatile material at a substantially constant pressure by moving of said collapsible diaphragm. The vapor-pressure driven pump system is useful for various situations, especially in a gravity-free environment in space exploration.

In a liquid supply device, the pump unit has a discharge port for discharging a fluid. The connecting portion is connected to the discharge port. The first and second pipe portions and branch off from the connecting portion. The first introduction unit is connected to the first pipe portion and introduces a first liquid into the first flow channel at a flow rate corresponding to a flow rate of the fluid flowing through the first pipe portion. The second introduction unit is connected to the second pipe portion and introduces a second liquid into the first flow channel at a flow rate corresponding to a flow rate of the fluid flowing through the second pipe portion. The stopping portion stops the flow of the fluid in the second pipe portion.

An aerosol delivery device may include a rechargeable power source configured to provide power to generate an aerosol, device electronics configured to generate the aerosol responsive to application of the power from the power source, and an authentication module. The authentication module may include a separate chip or circuit board relative to the device electronics. The authentication module may be inserted into the aerosol delivery device between the power source and the device electronics to control provision of the power to the device electronics for generation of the aerosol or between the power source and a charge port of the aerosol delivery device to control charging of the power source.

Disclosed herein are rolled-membrane microfluidic diffusion devices and corresponding methods of manufacture. Also disclosed herein are three-dimensionally printed microfluidic devices and corresponding methods of manufacture. Optionally, the disclosed microfluidic devices can function as artificial lung devices.