The Cellix Mirus Nanopump provides a method of initiation and maintenance of liquid flows in the microcapillaries of biochips with the total volume in the microlitre range. Due to the diminished sizes of the microfluidic biochips and sample volume reduction, the requirements on the liquid flow rates are down to picolitres/min and linear speeds of liquid in the microchannels of the biochip are from micrometers per second.

The microfluidic pumping system contains three key elements: a microsyringe pump, a microfluidic flow reducer and DSP-based controller. The proprietary microfluidic flow reducer is a key part of the pumping system which enables us to achieve a low volumetric flow rate within the microcapillaries of the biochip. In contrast to conventional microsyringe pumps which support a liquid flow rate in the range of 10 ml/min and above, the Cellix Mirus Nanopump facilitates a pumping rate as low as hundreds of picolitres per minute. The flow rate is precisely controlled by a sophisticated integrated DSP proccessor module. The calibration routine is fast and automatic.

The Mirus Nanopump needs to be primed initially by the “system liquid”, which can be deionized water, DMSO or culture medium solution. Once the priming and calibration routine are performed, a sample as low as 5 nl may be aspirated for delivery into the microfluidic biochip.

The Mirus Nanopump is assembled as a stand-alone unit and interfaced with a computer via RS-232 (communication port) or USB (universal serial bus) interfaces. The parameters of flow are fully adjustable by the computer based software, which allows the user to set the flow rate, shearing stress of the liquid for the particular assay performed and alter them during the assay.

The instrument’s software driver is easy to install (plug and play option with USB interface) and configure under operating system Windows 98/2000/Me.