Micro products
Microfluidics is booming!
Microfluidics is a multidisciplinary field studying the behaviour of fluids constrained to a small scale.
This field has outgrown the fundamental research stage and is being applied in many industries, such as biomedicine (lab-on-a-chip), continuous flow chemistry (microreactors) or molecule screening in R&D laboratories.
By working with channels significantly smaller than one millimetre, the analyses and exchanges become faster and more efficient, the number of samples or reagents required are reduced, the portability of systems increase and costs are reduced. The meticulous control of the process conditions in very small spaces ensures that microfluidics paves the way for new reaction schemes that are inconceivable in batches.
For many years, the Sirris Product Development Hub has been active in this field. In 2019, interest in microfluidics increased substantially, as did the number of new development projects, especially for industrial stakeholders aiming to diversify their activities with a new technological approach.
The academic world is not falling behind, having also started new research projects or are preparing others, whereby the engineering aspect is the same size or larger than the biological aspect it supports. A meeting of two especially innovative worlds!
Whether in equipment to detect pathogens in the human body, analysis of biological parameters, real-time dosing of antibiotics or quality control in the agri-food industry, microfluidics meets new demand with its high precision and speed at lower costs.
Sirris provides a unique range of technological resources to jump right into this new paradigm.
The Seraing site hosts the entire process chain, from pre-concept, computer-assisted design and the construction of demonstrators and functional prototypes using micro-processing, injection moulding or – more recently – micro-3D printing to industrial transfer.
Breakfast session on microfluidics
On 21 November 2019, in close cooperation with InnovaTech and with the support of Pôle MecaTech and Interreg, Sirris organised a breakfast session on microfluidics.
Forty early birds gained insights into this field from various presentations, which were followed by a guided tour of the installations at the Seraing site.
One of the highlights of the event was an introduction to the main concepts and an overview of the areas of application of microfluidics. This raised awareness in both newcomers to the field and increased the confidence of those already actively applying microfluidics in their decision to use the approach.
Testimonials from industry stakeholders in the healthcare and chemical sectors, including Thierry Baltus (Antigon), Pascal Mertens (Coris Bioconcept) and Julien Estager (Certech), also demonstrate how this technological domain will become part of our lives in the near future!
New printed sensors
