Abstract: The invention relates to a microfluidic system for controlling a card for the concentration of molecules capable of stimulating a target, for example formed by an assembly of living cells, characterized in that the system comprises a microfluidic device (1) comprising: n?1 microfluidic channel(s) (4, 40), the or each channel being provided with at least one inlet orifice for at least one fluid and with at least one outlet orifice for this fluid; n?2 openings (47, 470) formed in the microfluidic channel or distributed in the various microfluidic channels, said openings being arranged in one and the same plane so that they form a network having at least one dimension in this plane, the numbers n of microfluidic channel(s) and n of openings being linked by the relationship (I) with 1?i?n and n the number of openings for the channel c; at least one microporous membrane (5) covering the network of openings, the target being intended to be positioned on the side of the membrane which is opposite the microfluidic ch

Abstract: Nucleic acid from cells and viruses sampled from a variety of environments may purified and expressed utilizing microfluidic techniques. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, individual or small groups of cells or viruses may be isolated in microfluidic chambers by dilution, sorting, and/or segmentation. The isolated cells or viruses may be lysed directly in the microfluidic chamber, and the resulting nucleic acid purified by exposure to affinity beads. Subsequent elution of the purified nucleic acid may be followed by ligation and cell transformation, all within the same microfluidic chip. In one specific application, cell isolation, lysis, and nucleic acid purification may be performed utilizing a highly parallelized microfluidic architecture to construct gDNA and cDNA libraries.

Abstract: The invention relates to a surface treatment method for treating the inner walls of a microchannel made from a polymeric material that is at least partially photocured or thermoset. Said treatment is carried out via irradiation in the air at a wavelength of less than or equal to 300 nm. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a microfluidic device including such a surface treatment step.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for the microstructured grafting of a plurality of proteins onto a substrate, which includes a substrate (7), a film, a matrix (10), a light source (9), an optical system (11), a first container (1) for receiving a first aqueous solution, a second container (2) for receiving a second aqueous solution, and a microfluidic circuit, wherein the film is arranged on the substrate, the source is suitable for illuminating the matrix with the light, the matrix is suitable for propagating the light in a first structured pattern, the matrix includes an optical means for replacing the first structured pattern with a second structured pattern, the optical system is suitable for forming, on the film, a first microstructured image of the first pattern, the circuit is suitable for containing the first aqueous solution, the circuit includes an opening for placing the first solution in contact with the film at the opening, the circuit includes a microfluidic means for replacing the first solut

Abstract: Nucleic acid from cells and viruses sampled from a variety of environments may purified and expressed utilizing microfluidic techniques. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, individual or small groups of cells or viruses may be isolated in microfluidic chambers by dilution, sorting, and/or segmentation. The isolated cells or viruses may be lysed directly in the microfluidic chamber, and the resulting nucleic acid purified by exposure to affinity beads. Subsequent elution of the purified nucleic acid may be followed by ligation and cell transformation, all within the same microfluidic chip. In one specific application, cell isolation, lysis, and nucleic acid purification may be performed utilizing a highly parallelized microfluidic architecture to construct gDNA and cDNA libraries.

Abstract: The invention relates to a microfluidic system for controlling a card for the concentration of molecules capable of stimulating a target, for example formed by an assembly of living cells, characterized in that the system comprises a microfluidic device (1) comprising: n?1 microfluidic channel(s) (4, 40), the or each channel being provided with at least one inlet orifice for at least one fluid and with at least one outlet orifice for this fluid; n?2 openings (47, 470) formed in the microfluidic channel or distributed in the various microfluidic channels, said openings being arranged in one and the same plane so that they form a network having at least one dimension in this plane, the numbers n of microfluidic channel(s) and n of openings being linked by the relationship (I) with 1?i?n and n the number of openings for the channel c; at least one microporous membrane (5) covering the network of openings, the target being intended to be positioned on the side of the membrane which is opposite the microfluidic ch

Abstract: The invention relates to a microfluidic system for controlling a concentration profile of molecules capable of stimulating a target, for example formed by an assembly of living cells, this system comprising: -a microfluidic device (1) comprising at least one microfluidic channel (4) equipped with at least one inlet orifice (21) and with at least one outlet orifice (22) for at least one fluid; -at least one means for supplying the microfluidic channel (4) with at least one fluid comprising molecules capable of stimulating the target; -at least one chamber (8) or another microfluidic channel comprising a base (6) intended to receive the target; and -at least one microporous membrane (5) separating the chamber (8) or the other microfluidic channel from the microfluidic channel (4), said microporous membrane (5) being positioned away from the base (6) so that when the supply means provides the microfludic channel (4) with said at least one fluid flowing in laminar flow in contact with the microporous membrane (5)

Abstract: Method for producing a microfluidic device comprising a step in which a stamp made of elastomeric material is used for printing a photo-curable and/or heat-curable liquid disposed on a support.

Abstract: Using basic physical arguments, a design and method for the fabrication of microfluidic valves using multilayer soft lithography is presented. Embodiments of valves in accordance with the present invention feature elastomer membrane portions of substantially constant thickness, allowing the membranes to experience similar resistance to an applied pressure across their entire width. Such on-off valves fabricated with upwardly- or downwardly-deflectable membranes can have extremely low actuation pressures, and can be used to implement active functions such as pumps and mixers in integrated microfluidic chips. Valve performance was characterized by measuring both the actuation pressure and flow resistance over a wide range of design parameters, and comparing them to both finite element simulations and alternative valve geometries.

Abstract: High-density microfluidic chips contain plumbing networks with thousands of micromechanical valves and hundreds of individually addressable chambers. These fluidic devices are analogous to electronic integrated circuits fabricated using large scale integration (LSI). A component of these networks is the fluidic multiplexor, which is a combinatorial array of binary valve patterns that exponentially increases the processing power of a network by allowing complex fluid manipulations with a minimal number of inputs. These integrated microfluidic networks can be used to construct a variety of highly complex microfluidic devices, for example the microfluidic analog of a comparator array, and a microfluidic memory storage device resembling electronic random access memories.

Abstract: Method for producing a microfluidic device comprising a step in which a stamp made of elastomeric material is used for printing a photo-curable and/or heat-curable liquid disposed on a support.

Abstract: High-density microfluidic chips contain plumbing networks with thousands of micromechanical valves and hundreds of individually addressable chambers. These fluidic devices are analogous to electronic integrated circuits fabricated using large scale integration (LSI). A component of these networks is the fluidic multiplexor, which is a combinatorial array of binary valve patterns that exponentially increases the processing power of a network by allowing complex fluid manipulations with a minimal number of inputs. These integrated microfluidic networks can be used to construct a variety of highly complex microfluidic devices, for example the microfluidic analog of a comparator array, and a microfluidic memory storage device resembling electronic random access memories.

Abstract: High-density microfluidic chips contain plumbing networks with thousands of micromechanical valves and hundreds of individually addressable chambers. These fluidic devices are analogous to electronic integrated circuits fabricated using large scale integration (LSI). A component of these networks is the fluidic multiplexor, which is a combinatorial array of binary valve patterns that exponentially increases the processing power of a network by allowing complex fluid manipulations with a minimal number of inputs. These integrated microfluidic networks can be used to construct a variety of highly complex microfluidic devices, for example the microfluidic analog of a comparator array, and a microfluidic memory storage device resembling electronic random access memories.

Abstract: Using basic physical arguments, a design and method for the fabrication of microfluidic valves using multilayer soft lithography is presented. Embodiments of valves in accordance with the present invention feature elastomer membrane portions of substantially constant thickness, allowing the membranes to experience similar resistance to an applied pressure across their entire width. Such on-off valves fabricated with upwardly- or downwardly-deflectable membranes can have extremely low actuation pressures, and can be used to implement active functions such as pumps and mixers in integrated microfluidic chips. Valve performance was characterized by measuring both the actuation pressure and flow resistance over a wide range of design parameters, and comparing them to both finite element simulations and alternative valve geometries.

Abstract: Nucleic acid from cells and viruses sampled from a variety of environments may purified and expressed utilizing microfluidic techniques. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, individual or small groups of cells or viruses may be isolated in microfluidic chambers by dilution, sorting, and/or segmentation. The isolated cells or viruses may be lysed directly in the microfluidic chamber, and the resulting nucleic acid purified by exposure to affinity beads. Subsequent elution of the purified nucleic acid may be followed by ligation and cell transformation, all within the same microfluidic chip. In one specific application, cell isolation, lysis, and nucleic acid purification may be performed utilizing a highly parallelized microfluidic architecture to construct gDNA and cDNA libraries.

Abstract: High-density microfluidic chips contain plumbing networks with thousands of micromechanical valves and hundreds of individually addressable chambers. These fluidic devices are analogous to electronic integrated circuits fabricated using large scale integration (LSI). A component of these networks is the fluidic multiplexor, which is a combinatorial array of binary valve patterns that exponentially increases the processing power of a network by allowing complex fluid manipulations with a minimal number of inputs. These integrated microfluidic networks can be used to construct a variety of highly complex microfluidic devices, for example the microfluidic analog of a comparator array, and a microfluidic memory storage device resembling electronic random access memories.