Patent number for Microfluidic Valve Mechanism received

Microfluidic Systems, a privately-held company, announced today that they received patent number 7,607,641, entitled "Microfluidic Valve Mechanism". This patent covers a broad set of claims regarding the integration of a diaphragm membrane into a rigid body of a cartridge functioning as both a fluidic seal and cover of the cartridge, and as a valve mechanism for fluidics control within the cartridge. Diaphragm or membrane valves are a ubiquitous part of fluidic control devices and systems across a huge variety of applications. Diaphragm valves, for example, are typically used as shut-off valves in process systems for food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries. Commonly, the module containing such a valve has a multitude of separate parts to seal the fluids and to provide the valve mechanism. This recently issued patent provides for an extremely simple to build, yet highly effective way to produce microfluidic cartridges or devices for these and other applications.

"This fundamental patent provides MFSI with a cost-effective way to produce precise microfluidic cartridges for applications in biological detection ranging from biodefense to clinical diagnostics." Dr. M. Allen Northrup, MFSI President and CEO said. "This particular patent continues to build our repertoire of microfluidic solutions to real-world, complex biological processing and analysis products," he added.

SOURCE Microfluidic Systems