Microautosamplers for discrete sample injection and dispensation

Microfluidic systems show considerable potential for use in the continuous reaction and analysis of biosamples for various applications, such as drug screening and chemical synthesis. Typically, microfluidic chips are externally connected with large-scale autosamplers to inject specific volumes of discrete samples in the continuous monitoring and analysis of multiple samples. This paper presents a novel microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based autosampler capable of performing the discrete injection and dispensation of variable-volume samples. This microdevice can be integrated with other microfluidic devices to facilitate the continuous monitoring and analysis of multiple biosamples. By means of electroosmotic focusing and switching controlled by the direct application of electric sources on specific fluid reservoirs, a precise sample volume can be injected into the specified outlet port. Fluorescence dye images verify the performance of the developed device. An injection-and-washing scheme is developed to prevent cross-contamination during the continuous injection of different samples. This approach renders feasible the injection of several discrete samples using a single microchip. Compared to its large-scale counterparts, the developed microautosampler is compact in size, has low fabrication costs, is straightforward to control, and most importantly, is readily integrated with other microfluidic devices (e.g., microcapillary electrophoresis chips) to form a microfluidic system capable of the continuous monitoring and analysis of bioreactions. The proposed microautosampler could be promising towards realizing the micrototal analysis system (μ-TAS) concept. © 2005 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.