RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to the following the commonly assigned co-pending patent applications entitled, “MICROFLUIDIC VALVE”, PCT/US2017/017968, which is filed contemporaneously herewith and is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Microfluidics relates to the behavior, precise control and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small, typically sub-millimeter, scale. Numerous applications employ passive fluid control techniques such as capillary forces. In some applications, external actuation techniques are employed for a directed transport of fluid. For example, in some situations, rotary drives may be implemented to apply centrifugal forces.

Active microfluidics refers to a defined manipulation of the working fluid by active (micro) components such as micropumps or microvalves. Micropumps supply fluids in a continuous or intermittent manner for application such as for dosing of medicine. Microvalves determine the flow direction and/or the mode of movement of pumped liquids. In some examples, processes which are executed in a lab are miniaturized on a single chip in order to enhance efficiency and mobility as well as reducing sample and reagent volumes.

A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a device that integrates one or several laboratory functions on a single microelectronic/microfluidic chip that occupies millimeters to a few square centimeters to achieve automation and high-throughput screening. LOCs deal with the handling of small fluid volumes down to less than several picoliters (pL). Lab-on-a-chip devices are a subset of Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) devices and often referred to as “Micro Total Analysis Systems” (μTAS) as well.

