Automatic bio-sampling system based on micro-injection pump and pneuamtic micro valves

Synthetic biology is a promising research field. As many operations in the laboratory are still manual or semi automatic, experimenters spend a considerable amount of time supervising or advancing experimental procedures. In addition, manual operation also comes with an increased risk of contamination and human error. Research into automatic experiments is therefore important to increase efficiency and speed of Biological experiments. Fluid handling is a common procedure in synthetic biological experiments, e.g. when adding a reagent to a cell culture. This paper proposes an automatic system based on micro-pump and pneumatic micro valve designed for a flexible modular system. Scientists can set up experimental procedures in software, and the system will add reagents automatically and accurately. The system's micro-injection pump is controlled by a stepper motor and achieves high accuracy by using feedback from an angular encoder. Micro pneumatic valves with elastic membranes operated by pressurized air are used to route fluid froth pump to different locations in the system. Experiments showed that the system can dispense liquids within less than ± 2% of the target volume. By comparison, the manually operated precision pipette was within ± 3%of the target volume. The system has thus proven suitable for automated biological experiments.