We are happy to provide you with some initial manufacturability feedback based on a simple hand-sketch of your custom chip; and we can often give you a very rough fabrication price at that time.
Translume fabricates both Microfluidic Chips and Flow Cells. These two product families have microfluidic channels with different optical characteristics, which may affect your application.
Many of our microfluidic chips and flow cells are equipped with Nanoport™ connectors. Model N-126S, which was our standard model, is no longer in production. It is being replaced by the model N-333.
Most microfluidic applications involve only relative moderate pressures. However, some applications do require working with high-pressures. Occasionally we are asked “what is the maximum pressure that can be applied to our fused silica glass microfluidic chips?”
Many customers order chips (or flow cells) with factory-installed Luer connectors. These chips are shipped with a protective luer cap, which is screwed on top of each luer base. The cap prevents contaminants from entering into the microfluidic channels. We strongly recommend that you keep the caps on until you are ready to use the chip.
When you design microfluidic chips, remember that you must allow sufficient space for the connectors to operate properly. You must leave ample space between the connectors, and between the connectors and the edges of the chip. If you are going to use your chips under a microscope objective, you also need to take into consideration the height of the connectors and that of any associated tubing.
Each component of a microfluidic system (tubing, connector, microfluidic channel, etc.) has an internal volume. This volume has to be taken into consideration when working with samples that are available only in very limited quantities, or are very expensive.
The sorting and separation of biological cells and small particles is an area of great interest to many researchers and engineers.
The majority of our customers order glass microfluidic chips and flow cells with fluid connectors factory-installed. One of the standard fluid connectors that we offer is the Nanoport™ connector, fabricated by Upchurch Scientific.