MOVe™ Technology

MBI’s Microscale On-chip Valves (MOVe™) are a proven and elegant way to create micro-valves, pumps, and fluidic circuits. The technology is used to automate and miniaturize complex chemistries. This enabling technology is proprietary and covered by patents exclusively licensed from U.C. Berkeley and intellectual property developed at MBI. This technology is so revolutionary not only due to the improved capabilities for mixing and moving minute volumes of liquids accurately, efficiently, and with extremely small dead volumes (10 nL), but also because of the exquisitely simple and inherently reliable process by which it performs these functions.

How it Works

MBI’s MOVe valves and pumps are created by placing a flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane between etched glass or molded plastic layers. The bottom layer is connected to an external conventional-scale pneumatics system controlled by Apollo Software. When a vacuum is applied to the pneumatic displacement chamber, the normally closed PDMS membrane deflects from the valve seat and the valve opens.

MOVe pumps are made by coordinating the operation of three or more valves to create flow in any desired direction through pressure changes similar to a diaphragm pump. Flow rates can be controlled dependent on valve design and the rate of actuation. These flows range from 20 nL to 1 µL per stroke offering a wide range of choices for the creation of different fluidic applications.

Mixing Liquids on Chips

Mixing has always been a challenge in the laboratory and it is even more challenging when attempting it mix small volumes.  Microfluidic chips have been touted as the answer to reducing reagent volumes for many years, but have fallen short of its promises because of the inability to mix fluids efficiently. The dimensions of typical microfluidic channels produce conditions that lead to laminar, not turbulent, flow of liquids. Typical microfluidic chips relied upon diffusion to mix—which is very inefficient for large molecules. MBI takes a very different approach to mixing fluids on chips. MBI’s MOVe technology can be programmed to produce small, interspersed plugs of different materials, including microbeads, which are then efficiently mixed by passage through a valve and by invective mixing as the surfaces of the channels retard the outer portions of the plug and create an internal flow (Patent Pending).

 

 

Simple Manufacturing Process

MBI’s MOVe valves, pumps, and fluidic circuits are durable, fabricated at low cost, can operate in dense arrays, and feature intrinsically low dead volumes. Arrays of valves, pumps, and fluidic circuits are readily fabricated on microchips using two etched glass plates or molded plastic and a single sheet of PDMS membrane. This innovative technology enables MBI to create complex micro- and nanofluidic circuits on chips, putting as many as 500 micro pumps on a chip at the same cost as 5. Extremely complex designs of many components and channels consume no more space than a standard business card.

Benefits of Microfluidics

Smaller footprint: Current technologies take up a large amount of precious laboratory space. MBI’s MOVe microfluidics technology miniaturizes sample preparation and will eventually integrate both sample preparation and analysis into small footprint ‘sample-to-answer’ devices for the laboratory.

	Better data: Automation on microchips inherently eliminates the possibility of human error once the process is ‘on-chip’. It also frees up precious human talent for added value tasks.
	Reduced reagent use and cost: Automation on microchips reduce reaction volumes to microliter and sub-microliter scales which can dramatically reduce the use of expensive reagents and precious samples
	Faster results: MBI’s MOVe technology provides automation options not available previously; offering researchers new options for improving the efficiency of many life science applications that are tedious and slow at an affordable price point.

Unique designs for unique applications

MBI’s MOVe technology has evolved from original research at UC Berkeley, to a commercial platform that is an integral part of the Apollo 100 System. The design of these structures allows for more efficient use of space and easier part fabrication. The newly designed Reagent Rail system allows for fine metering of reagents and is expandable for more complex reactions and multistep processes. Valves fabricated without valve seats have been designed for capture and concentration of sample when using paramagnetic beads make this process possible in a much smaller space and at significantly reduce volumes. Some of the many varieties of MBI’s MOVe technology designs for pumps, reagent rails and paramagnetic bead capture are shown below.

A variety of additional microchip designs have been developed to meet the needs of the specific application being investigated. Some of these designs are shown below.