Microfluidic valve with cored glass microneedle for microinjection

Abstract

In this paper, a new microinjection device was constructed by fusing a glass microneedle and a PDMS-based microvalve. The microneedle was fabricated via traditional micropipette pulling. The PDMS-based microvalve regulates the fluid flow in the microchannel and microneedle. The ‘ON/OFF’ operation of the valve was controlled by manually supplied pneumatic pressure. The valve membrane utilized a two level geometry to improve control at low flow rates. The relation between pressure and flow was measured and the results showed that very small volumes of fluid (less than 1 nl) could be controlled. The valve operation was investigated by monitoring the tip of the needle and pneumatic pressure simultaneously and it demonstrated very stable ‘ON/OFF’ operation to the pressure change.