Festo has made available high-precision solutions for laboratory automation. Taking advantage of piezo technology, these solutions are opening up new horizons in microfluidics for medical diagnostics.
Functional solutions such as Festo’s piezo valve terminals VEMA or media valve series VODA are making an important contribution to the so-called “lab-on-a-chip” concept, i.e. microfluidic systems which accommodate the entire functionality of an analytical process on a single substrate. The major process steps in the preparation and analysis of samples on a microfluidic chip are the dosing of tiny volumes of liquid in the µl range, the delivery and controlled switching of liquid reagents, the mixing and separation of liquids and conditioning operations such as heating or cooling.
The required liquid flows are fed to the microfluidic chip by pressure control via a manifold duct plate equipped with compact media valves. Pressure regulation with the valve terminal VEMA allows precise and completely pulse-free delivery of liquids through up to eight ducts at the same time and in parallel.
Media valves VODA are integrated onto duct plates, and form a genuine system solution for combining, mixing, gasifying, degasifying and tempering liquids, pumping and dosing liquids into various mediums, as well as dispensing them.
