An EWOD-based micro diluter with high flexibility on dilution ratio

Dilution is a common procedure in biological and chemical analyses to perform tests at different concentrations. In previously reported micro diluters, although they could provide a wide dilution range, only limited dilution ratios were demonstrated, i.e. low flexibility in dilution ratio. Here, a d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microsystem technologies : sensors, actuators, systems integration actuators, systems integration, 2017-08, Vol.23 (8), p.3645-3651
Main Authors: Wang, Ying-Bin, Huang, Jun-Hao, Lee, Meng-Shiue, Huang, Cheng-Yeh, Huang, Cheng-Sheng, Yamashita, Ichiro, Tu, Yung-Yi, Hsu, Wensyang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Electronics and Microelectronics
Engineering
Instrumentation
Mechanical Engineering
Nanotechnology
Technical Paper
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Summary:Dilution is a common procedure in biological and chemical analyses to perform tests at different concentrations. In previously reported micro diluters, although they could provide a wide dilution range, only limited dilution ratios were demonstrated, i.e. low flexibility in dilution ratio. Here, a droplet-based micro diluter with high flexibility on dilution ratio is proposed, fabricated, and tested. Through combination of five different electrode sizes using electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) technique, the proposed micro diluter can provide 49 dilution ratios at dilution range from 1/2 to 1/50. Experimental results verify that different dilution ratios can be successfully generated, even at the most difficult low concentration range. Comparing to the design with equal electrode size in conventional EWOD-based microfluidic chip, the proposed design with unequal electrode sizes can reduce the operation steps to achieve high flexibility on dilution ratios efficiently.
ISSN:0946-7076
1432-1858
DOI:10.1007/s00542-016-3146-2