Low-power magnetically-actuated microvalves for highly parallel microfluidic automation

This paper presents the design and actuation of low-power, magnetically-actuated microvalves fabricated with CMOS-compatible technology. A prototype chip comprised of 64 microvalves within 2.2 × 2.2 mm² and requiring <; 50 mW to actuate is demonstrated. Each valve consists of a microcoil and a paramagnetic bead as the valve seat, and is used to address a 50 picoliter well to enable highly parallel biochemical sensing and analysis operations.