MICROVALVES IN MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES. PART 1. ACTIVE MICROVALVES

The microvalve is one of the most important functional elements of a microfluidic device. Microvalves allow dosing, mixing, starting/stopping liquid flows, flow control, and sealing reaction chambers —widely used operations in integrated microfluidic systems. There are many types of microvalves, each of which has different characteristics, and is designed to solve specific problems. Microvalves have been developed as active or passive structural elements with mechanical, non-mechanical, and external systems. This article provides an overview of the most commonly used designs of microvalves based on various actuators in microfluidics.