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Selected Papers from 5th International Conference on Microfluidic Handling Systems...
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Selected Papers from 5th International Conference on Microfluidic Handling Systems (MFHS2024)

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2024) | Viewed by 8542

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Joost Lötters

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Integrated Devices and Systems (IDS), University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
2. Innovative Sensor Technologies IST AG, Stegrütistrasse 14, CH-9642 Ebnat-Kappel, Switzerland
Interests: design, modeling, fabrication and application of microfluidic handling systems; MEMS thermal and Coriolis flow sensors and controllers; MEMS pressure sensors; MEMS control valves; micromachined flow analysis systems; multiparameter flow measurement systems; micro Wobbe index meters
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Martin Richter

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Fraunhofer EMFT, Munich, Germany
Interests: micropumps; dosing monitoring; microdosing systems; valves; actuation principles (piezo, electrostatic, SMA, thermopneumatic,…); machine learning for micropumps

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will publish both selected papers from the 5th International Conference on Microfluidic Handling Systems (https://www.utwente.nl/en/eemcs/mfhs2024/, 21–23 February 2024, Munich, Germany) and external contributions. Manuscripts submitted to the journal Micromachines should be extended by at least 40% compared with that of the conference proceedings.

Worldwide, the accurate handling—i.e., analysis, dosage, measurement and control—of small and extremely small flows of both gases and liquids is becoming increasingly important, driven by numerous applications. Examples of economically and societally relevant applications include medical multi-infusion systems, respiratory systems for patients with lung diseases, equipment for high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS), flow and pressure control in organ-on-a-chip systems, research on catalysts, energy content measurement in (mixtures of) fuel gases, including biogas and hydrogen, dosage systems for accurately dosing additives, such as vitamins to food and beverages, the production of specialty baby food with high nutritional value, the production of vaccines and pharmaceuticals via flow chemistry and fermentation, and the production of solar cell panels via CVD and ALD processes.

Whether in analytical instrumentation, flow chemistry, energy, the semiconductor industry, the food and beverage industry or life sciences, microfluidic handling systems face several major challenges: (1) a need for accurate measurement and calibration facilities; (2) a need for complete functional systems rather than individual components; (3) the commercialisation of academic research results; (4) the standardisation of fabrication technology and materials, modules and connections, and quality assurance and test equipment; (5) cross-overs between technologies, e.g., microfluidics and electronics, and microfluidics and robotics; and last but not least, (6) the rise of machine learning-enhanced fluidic systems.

In the future, the impact of this field of research may proliferate and large target markets may arise, especially when spin-off companies start manufacturing and selling their products, systems or pilot plants.

The focus of this conference is primarily on the technology, components, devices and systems that enable the application of microfluidic systems. We welcome the submission of papers on systems and devices that can be applied to the accurate handling (e.g., dosing, measurement, analysis and control) of (extremely) small flows of both gases and liquids, and the corresponding measurement and control principles; this includes cross-over technologies with, e.g., electronics and robotics, and machine learning-enhanced fluidic systems, including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Thermal, ultrasonic, Coriolis and other principles for flow measurement
  • Piezo-electric, electromagnetic, electrostatic and other principles for flow control
  • Electronic instrumentation, closed-loop control systems
  • Innovative methods in calibration equipment and methodology
  • Micro- and nanomachining, 3D printing and other fabrication technologies
  • Device or wafer-level characterization, packaging and testing
  • Machine learning for improving the performance and design of fluidic systems
  • Application proposals

Welcome topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Sensors: Flow, pressure, viscosity, temperature, conductivity, heat capacity, density, pH, refractive index, and relative permittivity.
  2. Actuators: Valves (normally open and normally closed), micropumps, mixers, dispensers, micro reactors, droplet generators, and actuation principles (piezo, electrostatic, SMA, thermo-pneumatic, …)
  3. Machine learning: Fluid classification, prediction of water-in-oil emulsion sizes, micropump design and performance improvement, self-sensing of piezo-driven microfluidic actuators, deep learning architectures for biological analysis, and deep learning for experimental design and control.
  4. Fluidic systems: Mass flow controllers, precision mixing, dosing and dispensing, calibration, multiparameter systems, and evaporators.
  5. Applications: Gas chromatographs, liquid chromatographs, medical analyses, micro reaction systems, bio-analytical systems, flow chemistry, organ-on-a-chip systems, production of pharmaceuticals, integrated cooling of power electronics, patch pumps, drug delivery in surgical robot systems, implantable drug delivery systems, gas sensor systems with sampling, and scent dosing systems.

Prof. Dr. Joost Lötters
Dr. Martin Richter
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 22713 KiB  
Article
Fully Integrated MEMS Micropump and Miniaturized Mass Flow Sensor as Basic Components for a Microdosing System
by Martin Seidl and Gabriele Schrag
Micromachines 2024, 15(12), 1404; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15121404 - 21 Nov 2024
Viewed by 3085
Abstract
Despite major advances in the field of actuator technology for microsystems, miniaturized microfluidic actuation systems for mobile devices are still not common in the market. We present a micropump concept and an associated mass flow sensor design, which, in combination, have the potential [...] Read more.
Despite major advances in the field of actuator technology for microsystems, miniaturized microfluidic actuation systems for mobile devices are still not common in the market. We present a micropump concept and an associated mass flow sensor design, which, in combination, have the potential to form the basis for an integrated microfluidic development platform for microfluidic systems in general and microdosing systems in particular. The micropump combines the use of active valves with an electrostatic drive principle for the pump membrane and the valves, respectively. With a size of only 1.86 mm × 1.86 mm × 0.3 mm, the first prototypes are capable of pumping gaseous media at flow rates of up to 110 μL/min. A specific feature of the presented micropump is that the pumping direction is perpendicular to the chip surface. The corresponding flow sensor combines the principle of hot-wire anemometry with a very small footprint of only 1.4 mm × 1.4 mm × 0.4 mm. The main innovation is that the hot wires are fixed inside a through-hole in the substrate of the microchip, so that the flow direction of the fluid to be measured is perpendicular to the chip surface, which enables direct integration with the presented micropump. Detection thresholds of around 10 μL/min and measuring ranges of up to 20 mL/min can be achieved with the first prototypes, without dedicated evaluation electronics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from 5th International Conference on Microfluidic Handling Systems (MFHS2024))
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19 pages, 4916 KiB  
Article
Consistent Evaluation Methods for Microfluidic Mixers
by Oliver Blaschke, Jonas Kluitmann, Jakob Elsner, Xie Xie and Klaus Stefan Drese
Micromachines 2024, 15(11), 1312; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15111312 - 29 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1149
Abstract
The study presents a unifying methodology for characterizing micromixers, integrating both experimental and simulation techniques. Focusing on Dean mixer designs, it employs an optical evaluation for experiments and a modified Sobolev norm for simulations, yielding a unified dimensionless characteristic parameter for the whole [...] Read more.
The study presents a unifying methodology for characterizing micromixers, integrating both experimental and simulation techniques. Focusing on Dean mixer designs, it employs an optical evaluation for experiments and a modified Sobolev norm for simulations, yielding a unified dimensionless characteristic parameter for the whole mixer at a given Reynolds number. The results demonstrate consistent mixing performance trends across both methods for various operation points. This paper also proposes enhancements in the evaluation process to improve accuracy and reduce noise impact. This approach provides a valuable framework for optimizing micromixer designs, essential in advancing microfluidic technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from 5th International Conference on Microfluidic Handling Systems (MFHS2024))
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12 pages, 7348 KiB  
Article
Highly Parallel Droplet Dispensing Approach to Provide Homogeneous and Controllable Droplet Arrays for Diagnostic Test Manufacturing
by Omid Rajabnia, Andreas Ernst, Nils Lass, Lutz Riegger and Roland Zengerle
Micromachines 2024, 15(7), 824; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15070824 - 26 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1429
Abstract
We introduce a novel approach for highly parallel droplet dispensing with precise control over the droplet parameters such as droplet volume, droplet velocity, etc. This approach facilitates the fabrication of homogeneous and precise thin layers with uniform coverage on defined small areas (e.g., [...] Read more.
We introduce a novel approach for highly parallel droplet dispensing with precise control over the droplet parameters such as droplet volume, droplet velocity, etc. This approach facilitates the fabrication of homogeneous and precise thin layers with uniform coverage on defined small areas (e.g., a specific area of 1 × 1.4 mm2 in microfluidic channels or microwells). The presented approach ensures layer uniformity and high precision in X/Y extent and edge resolution, making it well suited for achieving precise and controlled coating for a variety of applications such as homogeneous coatings for lateral flow tests, ELISA plates, and biosensors for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices. Our approach is based on direct liquid displacement employing a piston that is in direct contact with the liquid and an array of nozzles. Considering a variety of nozzle chip designs (i.e., varying nozzle diameter and pitch), we evaluated a multitude of parameters to derive general design rules for the nozzle chip design. Thus, we achieved a tunable droplet volume from 200 to 800 pL and droplet velocities from 0.5 to 2.5 m/s, applying a nozzle diameter of 50 μm and a nozzle pitch of 165 μm. The presented results showcase the versatility of the approach, offering precise dispensing capabilities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from 5th International Conference on Microfluidic Handling Systems (MFHS2024))
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12 pages, 3199 KiB  
Article
Flow-Independent Thermal Conductivity and Volumetric Heat Capacity Measurement of Pure Gases and Binary Gas Mixtures Using a Single Heated Wire
by Shirin Azadi Kenari, Remco J. Wiegerink, Remco G. P. Sanders and Joost C. Lötters
Micromachines 2024, 15(6), 671; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15060671 - 21 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1221
Abstract
Among the different techniques for monitoring the flow rate of various fluids, thermal flow sensors stand out for their straightforward measurement technique. However, the main drawback of these types of sensors is their dependency on the thermal properties of the medium, i.e., thermal [...] Read more.
Among the different techniques for monitoring the flow rate of various fluids, thermal flow sensors stand out for their straightforward measurement technique. However, the main drawback of these types of sensors is their dependency on the thermal properties of the medium, i.e., thermal conductivity (k), and volumetric heat capacity (ρcp). They require calibration whenever the fluid in the system changes. In this paper, we present a single hot wire suspended above a V-groove cavity that is used to measure k and ρcp through DC and AC excitation for both pure gases and binary gas mixtures, respectively. The unique characteristic of the proposed sensor is its independence of the flow velocity, which makes it possible to detect the medium properties while the fluid flows over the sensor chip. The measured error due to fluctuations in flow velocity is less than ±0.5% for all test gases except for He, where it is ±6% due to the limitations of the measurement setup. The working principle and measurement results are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from 5th International Conference on Microfluidic Handling Systems (MFHS2024))
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