Embossed Teflon AF Laminate Membrane Microfluidic Diaphragm Valves

A new fabrication strategy for valve manifolds uses flexible, durable materials.

A microfluidic system has been designed to survive spaceflight and to function autonomously on the Martian surface. It manipulates microscopic quantities of liquid water and performs chemical analyses on these samples to assay for the presence of molecules associated with past or present living processes. This technology lies at the core of the Urey Instrument, which is scheduled for inclusion on the Pasteur Payload of the ESA ExoMars rover mission in 2013.