The present invention provides microfluidic technology enabling rapid and economical manipulation of reactions on the femtoliter to microliter scale.

Pressure control systems and methods are provided that aid in the control of fluidic or pneumatic devices, by improving the ability to control pressure independently and simultaneously on multiple channels, which in turn permits pressure changes on the channels to occur more quickly and more precisely. In order to match rise/fall times between steps on different channels that may be of different magnitudes, various embodiments slow down fast steps such that they match the default rate of slower steps, such as by using a step partitioning method or breaking a single step into substeps with a pause inserted between substeps of necessary duration such that the complete step time matches the target step time. The provided systems and methods may utilize a combination of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control loop and discrete pressure steps to achieve faster, more accurate control over pressure rises and pressure falls.

A handheld system includes a reference pressure source configured to generate a reference pressure. The handheld system also includes a primary pressure source coupled to the reference pressure source. The primary pressure source is configured to generate a primary pressure in a primary pressure range. The primary pressure is less than the reference pressure, and the primary pressure is induced by the reference pressure source. The handheld system also includes a secondary pressure source coupled to the primary pressure source. The secondary pressure source is configured to generate a secondary pressure in a secondary pressure range. The secondary pressure is less than the primary pressure, and the secondary pressure is induced by the primary pressure source.

A fluid system includes a fluid active region, a fluid channel, a convergence chamber and plural valves. The fluid active region includes at least one fluid-guiding unit. The fluid-guiding unit is enabled under control to transport fluid to be discharged out through the outlet aperture. The fluid channel is in communication with the outlet aperture of the fluid active region, and has plural branch channels to split the fluid discharged from the fluid active region. The convergence chamber is in communication with the fluid channel. The valves each of which is disposed in the corresponding branch channel, wherein the fluid is discharged out through the branch channels according to opened/closed states of the valves under control. The fluid system of the present disclosure is capable of acquiring required flow rate, pressure and amount of the fluid to be transported.

A fluid system includes a fluid active region, a fluid channel, a convergence chamber, a sensor and plural valves. The fluid active region includes at least one fluid-guiding unit. The fluid-guiding unit is enabled under control to transport fluid to be discharged out through an outlet aperture. The fluid channel is in communication with the outlet aperture of the fluid active region, and has plural branch channels for splitting the fluid discharged from the fluid active region. The convergence chamber is in communication with the fluid channel. The sensor is disposed in the fluid channel for measuring fluid. The valves each of which is disposed in the corresponding branch channel, wherein the fluid is discharged out through the branch channels according to opened/closed states of the valves under control. The fluid system is capable of acquiring required flow rate, pressure and amount of the fluid to be transported.

The present disclosure provides a control method of a fluid device. The control method includes the steps of (a) providing the fluid device, which includes a plurality of flow guiding units manufactured by a micro-electro-mechanical-system process; (b) dividing the flow guiding units into a plurality of groups, which are electrically connected to and controlled by a control module; and (c) generating a driving signal by the control module for a corresponding one of the groups, wherein the control module generates a high level signal to a specific one of the groups, so that the flow guiding units of the specific one of the groups are driven to transport fluid, and thereby controlling the fluid device to discharge a specific amount of fluid.

Embodiments are related to systems and methods for fluidic assembly, and more particularly to systems and methods for increasing the efficiency of fluidic assembly.

A software-controlled triangle-topology valve-cluster for use at taps or conduit junction points that facilitate fluid-based clearing, gas-based clearing, solvent-based cleaning, gas drying, small-volume burst formation, abandoned-material return, and other valuable operations is disclosed. The invention provides better contamination performance than simple passive or valve-chaperoned T-topology junctions. The valve-cluster arrangement can be implemented or approximated in various ways. For faster performance, simplified programming, or other reasons macro controllability can be provided for operating groups of valves in one or more of simultaneous operation, time-defined sequenced operation, or conditional operation, and such macros can further provide for conditional inputs or parameters. Such macro, conditional-macro, and parameterized-macro control could be implemented in software, firmware, and/or hard-wired logic. The invention can be used in reusable or reconfigurable microfluidic systems, facilitate decontaminated and green disposal and recycling of microfluidics, and other fluidic applications. Features of the invention can also be extended to gas transport.

Although most contemporary and envisioned microfluidic systems are entirely passive or have limited control capabilities, future microfluidic systems require detailed sequenced control of valves and other elements. For this software-control of transport and processes for microfluidic systems under the control of temporal and/or event-driven scripts, script authoring and editing, functional libraries, and other development tools for process and configuration control are proposed with intent towards future standardization. Scripts can respond to external inputs and can comprise conditional-logic, temporal-logic, calculations, hierarchical structure, subroutines, macros, multi-thread and parallel execution operations, procedural calls, interrupts, real-time regulatory control calculations, and element resource allocation.

Scripts can be executed by a script reader, responsive to incoming signals and information, to produce temporal control sequences for operating microfluidic devices, emulation hardware, simulation software, process visualization, etc.

Script authoring/editing tools and readers can record and store information, and can interface to with commercial software, systems, languages, and protocols.

A breadboard approach by which a biochemical pathway under study is separated or segmented into smaller portions, at least one of which can to a degree of approximation be accurately emulated with a replica microscale and/or nanoscale fluidic implementation whose constituent species, inhibitor(s), catalyst(s) and other reaction agent(s) can be closely controlled and at least one aspect of whose behavior can be measured. Control and measurement information interfaces with a computer that executes algorithms comprising one or more of a control process, control event-script, experiment, data recording, and mathematical model. A model can be used to simulate the actions, behavior, or other aspects of another portion of the biochemical signaling process, pathway, or network. Replica constituents can include enzymes, other proteins, lipids, ions, peptides, and other materials provided under controlled conditions and timing, as well as varying degrees of competitive species, drugs, environmental influences, and substitute or representative molecular crowding.