Activities
Members of the MFA actively participate in project and working groups to investigate, develop and define guidelines and standards in the field of Microfluidics
Members of the MFA actively participating in the following activities:
ISO working group ISO/TC 48/WG 3, Microfluidic Devices.
The ideas from and reports created during MFA workshops 2016-2021 were brought into this ISO working group. End of last year the ISO/TC 48/WG 3 published the standard of microfluidic connectors: Microfluidic devices — Interoperability requirements for dimensions, connections and initial device classification
This group is now finalizing the updated microfluidic vocabulary and started to work on the technical report Microfluidic pumps — Symbols and performance communication
Contact: Nicolas Verplanck, Nicolas.VERPLANCK@cea.fr
MFMET project
Establishing metrology standards in microfluidic devices. https://mfmet.eu
The goals of this project are:
- To investigate, evaluate and formulate consensus-based flow control specifications, guidelines and protocols.
- To develop measurement protocols for different flow quantities and liquid properties, in different microfluidics devices to be used in pharmaceuticals, biomedical and mechanobiology applications.
- To define consensus-based standards and guidelines for interfaces and connectivity between fluidic passages and optical/electrical connections of microfluidics components and corresponding measurement standards.
Contact: Elsa Batista, ebatista@ipq.pt
Working group Leakage test protocol
This working group is preparing a protocol for leakage testing of microfluidic devices. Leakage tests in microfluidics is not easy as the flowrates are very low and testing with gas (which is easier and non-destructive) is not representative for real life situations. The draft document also addresses burst pressure test and maximum operational pressure test.
Contact: Henne van Heeren, secretary@microfluidics-organisation.org
Working group Microfluidics Roadmap
Where is the microfluidic industry heading to?
The roadmap should pinpoint to certain problems that for the microfluidic community that can be solved by microfluidic standardization. From these problems action points will be defined and milestones proposed. Among the topics mentioned are connectors and testing. The roadmap will be a living document and updated regularly.
Contact: Marko Blom, Marko.Blom@micronit.com
Flow Control working group
The goal of this group is to make it easier for customers selecting microfluidic flow control components and devices, install them and use them: democratization of microfluidics or microfluidics 4.0. In the coming period we will address the following points:
- Requirements: Define classes of microfluidic products; working from the applications but formulated in flow control specifications. Elements could be capacity / flow rate, type of flow, stability, accuracy etc.
- Specifications: Compare these classes with components / systems in the field.
- Prioritization: What are the most popular classes?
- Barriers: Can we integrate the components in these classes easily into a system?
- Quality: What metrology and protocols belong to these classes?
Contact: Henne van Heeren, secretary@microfluidics-organisation.org