Princeton Docket #
12-2739
Researchers at Princeton University have developed a
novel device for manipulating liquid flow in micro channels and chambers. This device is simple and robust, and
does not require a power source.
Controlling and directing liquid flow within a
microfluidic device is important in a variety of applications ranging from
microfluidic diagnosis and analysis to self-healing devices. Current systems employ external pumps
and/or valves, pressure or vacuum methods, electric signals or drivers, or
surface tension methodology to move fluids. While advances in microfluidic accuracy
continue to be made using these methods,
the requirement s of
external power and/or hardware limit these methods¿ range of use. Developing a fully internally controlled
device allows the use as a highly portable or embeddable tool.
Princeton
inventors have fabricated a simple mechanical device that utilizes elastic
deformation (e.g., stretching or bending) within a flexible device to control
and direct fluid flow. The device
consists of a microchannel with a flexible arch prepared by buckling a thin
elastic film. The arch prevents
fluid flow in its initial, strain-free state. When the device is stretched or bent,
the deformed arch acts as a valve allowing fluid to flow. The deflection of the arch and the flow
rate within the microchannel can be controlled. By arranging a complex array of flexible
arches within a device it is possible to optimize mixing and direct fluid flow
towards regions of high stress.
Advantages
·
Simple
·
Low
Cost
·
No
external power requirement
Applications
·
Microfluidic diagnostics
·
Chemical analysis
·
Adaptable materials
·
Self-healing materials
·
In
situ
Mixing and Chemistry reactions
·
Pressure sensing
Faculty
Inventor
Howard
Stone is
the Donald R. Dixon '69 and Elizabeth W. Dixon Professor in Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. His
research has been concerned with a variety of fundamental problems in fluid
motions dominated by viscosity, so-called low Reynolds number flows, and has
frequently featured a combination of theory, computer simulation and modeling,
and experiments to provide a quantitative understanding of the flow phenomenon
under investigation. Prof. Stone is the recipient of the most
prestigious fluid mechanics prize, the Batchelor Prize 2008, for best research
in fluid mechanics in the last ten years.
He is also part of the Class of 2011 inductees of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences.
Intellectual Property
status
Patent protection is pending.