Pumping fluids radially inward on centrifugal microfluidic platforms via thermally-actuated mechanisms

Abstract

While manipulating fluids in microfluidic discs by centrifugal forces has several advantages, centrifugal pumping alone only permits fluids to travel uni-directionally. Rather than enlarging microfluidic discs to complete lengthy multi-step assays, a more ideal solution is to transfer fluids radially inward for further processing. To enable such fluidics, we present a novel and straightforward technique, based on thermally-actuated mechanisms, to pump fluids to more central locations on a rotating microfluidic disc.