Title: Microfluidic cap-to-dispense (μCD): a universal microfluidic-robotic interface for automated pipette-free high-precision liquid handling.

Authors: Wang, Jingjing; Deng, Ka; Zhou, Chuqing; Fang, Zecong; Meyer, Conary; Deshpande, Kaustubh Umesh-Anjali; Li, Zhihao; Mi, Xianqiang; Luo, Qian; Hammock, Bruce D; Tan, Cheemeng; Chen, Yan; Pan, Tingrui

Published In Lab Chip, (2019 Oct 09)

Abstract: Microfluidic devices have been increasingly used for low-volume liquid handling operations. However, laboratory automation of such delicate devices has lagged behind due to the lack of world-to-chip (macro-to-micro) interfaces. In this paper, we have presented the first pipette-free robotic-microfluidic interface using a microfluidic-embedded container cap, referred to as a microfluidic cap-to-dispense (μCD), to achieve a seamless integration of liquid handling and robotic automation without any traditional pipetting steps. The μCD liquid handling platform offers a generic and modular way to connect the robotic device to standard liquid containers. It utilizes the high accuracy and high flexibility of the robotic system to recognize, capture and position; and then using microfluidic adaptive printing it can achieve high-precision on-demand volume distribution. With its modular connectivity, nanoliter processability, high adaptability, and multitask capacity, μCD shows great potential as a generic robotic-microfluidic interface for complete pipette-free liquid handling automation.

PubMed ID: 31501848

MeSH Terms: Automation; Bacteria/metabolism; Luminescent Proteins/metabolism; Microfluidics/instrumentation; Microfluidics/methods*; Plasmids/genetics; Plasmids/metabolism; Robotics*