Droplet junction chip ensures high-yields and consistency

Dolomite's Mitos Droplet Junction Chip, a glass microfluidic device is designed for droplet generation. With two separate droplet junctions, the chip is able to produce a high droplet yield while maintaining consistency in size. Compatible with the Mitos Chip Holder H for fast and reliable fluidic connection, the droplet junction chip is ideal for monodispersed droplet formation as well as emulsion formation.

Depending on several physical parameters, such as channel size, fluid viscosity and miscibility, total flow rate and flow stability, droplets are typically formed with a diameter between 80 - 120 µm. Furthermore, between 100 - 3,000 droplets can be produced per second in a single channel. Droplet consistency is easily maintained throughout an application, providing extremely steady and reliable data. With an exceptionally small size of 22.5 mm x 15 mm x 4 mm (length x width x thickness), the Mitos Droplet Junction Chip provides a straight-through path for droplets, with high visibility. The two junctions within the chip can be used separately or in combination, as suited for various applications.

A range of customised options enable the chip to be tailored to fulfil individual user specifications. As such, it can be provided with a range of geometries, including different channel depths and etchings. As the surface of the channel walls has an effect on the nature of the droplet formation, Dolomite chips are available with hydrophilic, hydrophobic, platinum, or custom coatings. With outstanding chemical compatibility and the ability to operate across a wide range of temperatures and pressures, the Mitos Droplet Junction Chip is the ideal lab-on-a-chip solution for monodispersed droplet formation and emulsion formation.

For further information, view website: www.dolomite-microfluidics.com   

Dolomite provides pulseless liquid flow

The Mitos P-pump from Dolomite, provides a pulseless liquid flow, using a precise pressure driven pumping mechanism. With excellent response time and accuracy, such pressure driven flow is ideal for microfluidic systems where highly stable flow is required for applications such as droplet formation.

Operating over a wide pressure range of 0 - 10 bar, the pump is suitable for use with systems of high fluidic resistance. The design features a lockable pressure chamber for safety, which is easily accessible and accommodates a wide range of standard and non-standard fluid vessels. With the ability to contain samples from 100 µl to 30 ml, the pump uses fluid directly from the container, to produce no mess or waste.

Refer to the picture: The Mitos P-pump from Dolomite, provides a pulseless liquid flow, using a precise pressure driven pumping mechanism.

The Mitos P-pump works with laboratory nitrogen or Argon supply, gas bottle or compressor, making set-up quick and easy. Furthermore, user control is via an intuitive twist-and-click knob and display. For further information, view website: www.dolomite-microfluidics.com   

Dolomite's Mitos P-Pump exceeds
market leading syringe pump technology

As a world leader in microfluidic design, Dolomite is dedicated to providing highly optimised equipment for a range of microfluidic applications. The recently launched Mitos P-Pump provides a pulseless liquid flow, using a precise pressure driven pumping mechanism. With excellent response time and accuracy, this pressure driven flow is ideal for microfluidic systems where a highly stable flow is required. This includes applications such as compartmentalised chemistry and alginate polymerisation, which necessitate the stable formation of oil-in-water or water-in-oil droplets; however their monodispersity (size consistency) is key to obtaining accurate and repeatable results.

The recently launched Mitos P-Pump provides a pulseless liquid flow, using a precise pressure driven pumping mechanism.

Dolomite has therefore carried out a number of tests to compare the size consistency of droplets formed by the Mitos P-Pump with market leading syringe pumps. Droplets of water-in-oil were generated on a 100µm sized X-Junction, using each of the pump technologies. The droplet diameter from a continuous stream was measured using image analysis software. The resulting data demonstrated that the Mitos P-Pump provides a coefficient of variation in the droplet diameter of less than 0.6%, compared with 5.5% for the leading syringe pump. Its precise pressure-driven pumping mechanism delivers liquid with a smooth and even flow, whereas even the best motor drives and mechanics of a syringe pump have slight non-linearities, which cause unwanted pulsation. The Mitos P-Pump technology therefore provides the best solution for droplet formation applications.

To download the complete study, and for further information on the Mitos P-Pump as well as Dolomite's portfolio of microfluidic products, including chips, connectors/interconnects, pumps, valves and flow sensors, please visit www.dolomite-microfluidics.com.

The Dolomite Centre Limited in profile
Established in 2005 as the world's first Microfluidic Application Centre, Dolomite focused on working with customers to turn their concepts for microfluidic applications into reality. Today, Dolomite is the world leader in solving microfluidic problems. With offices in the UK and US and distributors throughout the rest of the world, its clients range from universities developing leading-edge analytical equipment, to manufacturers of chemical, life science and clinical diagnostics systems.

Dolomite is pioneering the use of microfluidic devices for small-scale fluid control and analysis, enabling manufacturers to develop more compact, cost-effective and powerful instruments. By combining specialist glass, quartz and ceramic technologies with knowledge of high performance microfluidics, Dolomite is able to provide solutions for a broad range of application areas including environmental monitoring, clinical diagnostics, food and beverage, nuclear, agriculture, petrochemical, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Furthermore Dolomite's in-house micro-fabrication facilities that include clean rooms and precision glass processing facilities allow to prototype and test all solutions rapidly which ensures a faster development cycle and reduces the time to market.

For further, information, view website: www.dolomite-microfluidics.com   

Dolomite's Mitos Resealable Chip Holder - A
fully flexible microfluidic experimentation platform

Dolomite, recently introduced the Mitos Resealable Chip Holder. The Resealable Chip Holder has been designed to allow researchers complete flexibility in their cell culture and analysis, dielectrophoresis, impedance detection and biosensor detection. With eight fluidic and eight electrical connections, microfluidic chips can be easily opened and then resealed, allowing deposition of reagents or cells onto the channel surface at different times.

The low profile Mitos Resealable Chip Holder fits easily on a microscope stage, and windows at top or bottom allow a microscope objective lens to get within millimetres of the microfluidic channel, allowing easy viewing in a laboratory environment.

Mitos Resealable Chip Holders are easily taken apart for easy cleaning and have very good chemical resistance.

For further information on the Mitos Resealable Chip Holder, as well as the full range of microfluidic product offerings from Dolomite, including chips, connectors, pumps, valves and flow sensors, view website: www.dolomite-microfluidics.com   

Glass Gas Chromatography Chip ideal for environmental testing

Dolomite, in collaboration with the UK's National Centre for Atmospheric Science, has successfully tested the miniaturisation of gas chromatography equipment for environmental testing. The glass Gas Chromatography Chip has a 300 µm thick layer and is fabricated with isotropic channels, which effectively replace the capillary and spindle structure which is characteristic of standard GC columns. This microfluidic miniaturisation enables the production of portable, robust and low power GC systems suitable for environmental applications such as atmospheric monitoring.

The chip design includes an injection zone, which allows activated carbon particles to be loaded and held, forming a sample absorption column. Closely packed within a 100 x 100 mm microfluidic chip, the 7.5 m and 1.4 m long channels have an internal diameter of 320 µm to ensure efficient heat transfer. With a circular cross section, a uniform coating can be evenly applied to the inside surface of the channel, effectively mimicking the stationary phase, to aid separation. The results have been published in Journal of Chromatography A.

Professor Alastair Lewis, of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of York, commented, "We are very pleased with the progress of our development and the excellent support we have received from Dolomite, which helped us to make significant progress. Our research has shown that microfluidics is an enabling technology for the next generation of environmental testing equipment. It provides in-situ environmental monitoring capabilities with the possibility of a more rapid response to adverse changes in air quality."

For further information on the complete range of microfluidic products, view website: www.dolomite-microfluidics.com  Refer to page 235