Development of Novel Coupling Method for Biochemical IC Family and Micro Chemical Devices

We developed a simple and effective coupling method “silicone rubber coupling method” for interconnecting modular micro fluidic devices such as “Biochemical IC Family” proposed by Ikuta. This coupling method utilizes thin silicone rubber films and the holder unit The biochemical IC chips are stacked up into the holder unit. And reusable thin silicone rubber films formed by a polymer mold are sandwiched between the IC chips. This simple coupler provided a good seal under high pressure (>400 kPa). Moreover, the experiments of this method showed that the maximum leakage pressure increases while the thickness of the silicone rubber gets thin, differing from general sealing technology “O-ring”. Thin coupling part is effective in practical use. This method is useful not only for the biochemical IC chips but also other micro fluidic devices.