Engagement with Epocal to quantify the variation in mechanical properties in their microfluidic-based sensor valves

epoal构建和制造具有成本效益的诊断测试卡和无线读卡器，用于需要高灵敏度和实验室质量准确性的小批量测试应用：医生办公室，医院床边或患者家中。血液分析是通过将样本通过聚合物膜注射到柔性卡片上的储存库中，然后通过一系列不同的传感器。然而，由于用于制造这些重要阀门的聚合物薄膜的可变性，可能会发生注射故障，导致批次失效和卡内阀门开度问题。因此，为了缓解这一问题，在这笔资金的帮助下，我们将：1)更好地了解聚合物涂层变化的来源；2)开发一种新的贴片前评估薄膜的程序

Epocal builds and manufactures a cost-effective diagnostic test card and wireless card reader intended for low volume testing applications where high sensitivity and lab quality accuracy is required: physician's office, hospital bedside or patients' home. Analysis of the blood is performed by injecting a sample into a reservoir on the flexible card through a polymer membrane which then travels through a series of different sensors. However due to variability of the polymer films used for the fabrication of these important valves, malfunctioning injections can take place resulting in failed lots and issues with the in-card valve opening. Therefore to alleviate this problem, with the help of this grant we will: 1) build a better understanding of the source of variability in polymer coating and 2) develop a new procedure for assessing films prior to card