From in vitro diagnostics to pharmaceuticals, many biomedical and life science applications depend on precise, repeatable liquid handling. Oftentimes, these processes involve dispensing nanoliter-scale fluid volumes into hundreds of microplates — some of which contain up to 1,536 wells each. Under these conditions, manual pipetting is imprecise at best and difficult to impossible in high-throughput applications. And while automated liquid handling robots overcome this challenge, they often include unnecessary features and come with a hefty price tag. Pressure-controlled liquid dispensing systems provide a simple, quick, and cost-effective way to dose nanoliter-to milliliter-scale volumes of fluid with precision, reliability, and scalability.
The Benefits of Pressure-Based Liquid Handling Systems
• Small doses—starting at 0.25 µl
• Lower cost
• Fewer moving parts
• Easy to clean, maintain and calibrate
• High speed—constant flow pressure improves performance over piston systems
• Open-loop CVs under 3% are commonly achieved, with CVs under 0.01% possible in closed-loop,
gravimetric feedback systems
Media separated solenoid valve, VYKA
The media-separated solenoid valve VYKA from Festo allows the precise dispensing of fluids and the control of liquid flows in manifold duct plates for continuous flow applications. The excellent performance of the liquid valve makes it a suitable choice for laboratory applications.
Thanks to a separating diaphragm made of high-performance polymers FPM and FFPM, the solenoid valve VYKA is also suitable for aggressive media. The low internal volume makes the valve easy to clean. The combination with FDA-listed materials makes the VYKA ideal for highly sensitive applications. The current control ensures the switching behavior is highly reproducible. The holding current reduction of the plug-in electronics prevents sensitive media from heating up.
- Compact width of 7 mm
- Maximum performance and precision in the smallest of spaces
- High flow rate with small size
- Very easy to clean thanks to media separation
- Low media consumption owing to the small internal volume
- FDA-listed materials
- High-quality materials, therefore also suitable for aggressive media
- High repetition accuracy, switching frequency, and precision, therefore also suitable for extremely small volumes and dosing tasks
- Very flexible in use thanks to 3/2-way and 2/2-way variants as well as 12 … 26 V DC control
- Optionally with slide-on electrical sub-base VAVE-K1 with holding current reduction as accessory
- Developed according to ISO 13485
Valve control module, VAEM
The valve control module VAEM makes precise switching of solenoid valves easier than ever. Up to 8 channels can be parameterized individually. A time resolution of only 0.2 ms and the control of the valves via current – not voltage – enable extremely high precision, e.x. for dispensing applications. The holding current reduction saves energy and minimizes heat input.
Pressurized liquid dispensing systems can help you optimize your throughput in lab automation applications by providing a mechanically simple, cost-effective way to dose nanoliter-scale fluid volumes with speed, precision, and reliability. These systems easily meet criteria related to flow, pressure, and other control variables while offering scalability—enabling you to easily build higher-level liquid handling systems at a fraction of the cost of complex robotics. From single-channel dispense systems to motion control solutions, we can combine and scale our standard products—including pressure regulators, tubing, kinematics, and controllers—to create liquid handling systems tailored to your specific needs.