Micro Fluid Management Technology

Objectives Of The Report

This report describes the market for micro pumps, valves, pressure sensors, flow sensors and flow controllers.

it provides an overview of the technologies and their numerous applications, the business opportunities, the main players, as well as the main challenges and trends

Over the last years, we followed the developments and market of microfluidic components, and carried out a large number of interviews with the key players in this field. All this information is structured, analyzed and complemented by our vision on the market perspectives.

Main Challenges

Beyond ink-jet printers and lab-on- a-chip assays, recent advances and innovations contribute to the recognition of Microfluidics as a key enabling technology of the future.

Precise manipulation of microliters down to picoliters of fluid see potential applications in the Medical, in- Vitro Diagnostic, Chemistry, energy and industrial fields.

Up to now, microfluidic products on the market employed passive fluid control techniques such as the use of capillary forces. The trend towards miniaturization and the flexible use of systems such as portable medical devices, micro fuel cells, and even micro chemical reactors imposes strong requirements in terms of size, weight, accuracy and automation.

Function integration is thus a key requirement, which leads to a growing demand for micro flow management components such as pumps, valves and sensors.

As medical, diagnostic and consumer handheld applications (micro-fuel cell) expect low cost disposable solutions, the challenge is to integrate sensors and valves at the chip manufacturing level. This implies some partnership between technology providers and microfluidic foundries.

Market

The total market of flow management components is expected to reach 4.2 b$ in 2014, the largest volume being attributed to micro-pressure sensors. Although MEMS devices represent today a small fraction of this market, this fraction will significantly increase in the next 5 years, the largest application being disposable pressure sensors for blood monitoring.

Detailed analysis of the market and technologies for pumps, valves , sensors and controllers show that although microfluidic devices are entering the marketplace, no industry standard exists yet , even for the simplest components.