1. An optical connecting system comprising:
a housing having a central axis;
a first optical fiber coupled to the housing having a first end;
a second optical fiber coupled to the housing along the central axis having a second end;
a lens; and
a lens scanning device movably coupling the lens within the housing along the central axis, said lens scanning device moving the lens relative to the housing to direct light from the first end to the second end, said lens scanning device comprising,
a lens holder coupled to the lens,
a first motion arm coupled to the lens holder,
first controllable means coupled to the first motion arm to generate a first motion on the lens holder though the first motion arm,
a second motion arm coupled to the lens holder, and
a second controllable means coupled to the second motion arm to generate a second motion on the lens holder through the second motion arm.
2. A system as recited in claim 1 wherein the first controllable means comprises a first piezo device.
3. A system as recited in claim 1 further comprising a light source, a light detector and a computer controller coupled to the first optical fiber, said computer controller coupled to the lens scanning device and the optical fiber, said computer controller adjusting a lens scanning device position until light from the light source generates maximum fringes at the detector.
4. A system as recited in claim 1 wherein the first controllable means comprises a first piezo device and a first screw, said first screw coupling the first motion arm to the first piezo device.
5. A system as recited in claim 1 wherein the first motion arm comprises a lever arm.
6. A system as recited in claim 1 wherein the lever arm is a horizontal motion arm generating horizontal motion of the lens holder.
7. A system as recited in claim 1 wherein the second controllable means comprises a second piezo device.
8. A system as recited in claim 1 wherein the second controllable means comprises a second piezo device and a second screw, said second screw coupling the second motion arm to the second piezo device.
9. A system as recited in claim 1 wherein the vertical motion arm comprises a lever arm.
10. A system as recited in claim 1 wherein the lever arm is a vertical motion arm generating vertical motion of the lens holder.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A microfluidic device comprising:
a constant volume electrochemical pump formed in at least one layer of a microfluidic device;
a fluid reservoir coupled with the electrochemical pump for receiving pressure from the electrochemical pump during actuation; and
a chromatographic microcolumn fluidically coupled to the fluid reservoir for receiving a fluid from the reservoir during actuation.
2. The microfluidic device of claim 1, wherein the chromatographic column has an aspect ratio of width to height in a range from 2 to 100.
3. The microfluidic device of claim 1, wherein the electrochemical pump is a first injection pump and the fluid reservoir is a first sample reservoir, the microfluidic device further comprising:
at least one additional constant volume electrochemical pump formed in the at least one layer for pumping eluent; and
at least one additional reservoir fluidly coupled with the at least one additional electrochemical reservoir for receiving pressure from the additional electrochemical pump, the additional reservoir fluidically coupled to the chromatographic column.
4. The microfluidic device of claim 1, further comprising:
another layer forming the microfluidic device;
electrodes disposed on at least one of the layers of the microfluidic device, the electrodes forming part of the electrochemical pump.
5. The microfluidic device of claim 1, further comprising a top layer having port holes therethrough in alignment with the electrochemical pump and fluid reservoir, the port holes configured to receive an electrolyte and at least one of a sample and an eluent therethrough.
6. The microfluidic device of claim 1, further comprising a waste reservoir in the at least one layer, the waste reservoir fluidically coupled to the chromatographic microcolumn for receiving at least a portion of the fluid after it passes through the microcolumn.
7. The microfluidic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one layer is an intermediate layer, the microfluidic device further comprising:
a top layer having port holes therethrough in alignment with the pump and reservoirs, and
a bottom layer;
wherein the intermediate layer has the top layer and the bottom layer bonded thereto to form a monolithic pressure-driven liquid chromatography device.
8. The microfluidic device of claim 7, further comprising a plurality of intermediate layers such that the pump and reservoirs are formed by the plurality of intermediate layers.
9. A microfluidic system, comprising:
a microcolumn in a chip; and
an electrochemical pumping mechanism in the chip; the electrochemical pumping mechanism having at least one electrochemical pump fluidically coupled to a microcolumn;
wherein the electrochemical pumping mechanism supplies a sample under pressure to the column for chromatographic separation of the sample in the column.
10. The microfluidic system of claim 9, wherein the electrochemical pumping mechanism comprises:
at least one injection pump fluidicly coupled to at least one sample reservoir and the microcolumn; and
at least one eluent pump fluidicly coupled to at least one eluent reservoir and the microcolumn.
11. The microfluidic system of claim 10, wherein:
each of the injection pump and the eluent pump comprises a pair of electrodes configured to be in fluid communication with an electrolyte; and
the couplings between the pumps and the reservoirs are configured such that when an electrolyte is present in each of the pumps, the electrolyte is fluidly connected to the sample and the eluent, respectively;
whereby gases generated by electrolysis apply pressure on at least one of the sample and the eluent via microfabricated channels to effect pumping of the sample andor the eluent in the reservoirs.
12. The microfluidic system of claim 11, further comprising at least one voltage source connected to the electrodes in the injection pump and the eluent pump, the voltage source configured to control a voltage applied to respective pairs of electrodes.
13. The microfluidic system of claim 9, further comprising a feedback loop and a current control device connected to the electrochemical pumping mechanism to automatically control a current supplied to the electrochemical pumping mechanism.
14. The microfluidic system of claim 9, further comprising a feedback loop and a pressure monitoring device connected to the electrochemical pumping mechanism to automatically control pressure exerted by the electrochemical pumping mechanism.
15. A method for achieving fast liquid chromatography in a microdevice, the method comprising:
pumping at least one of a sample and an eluent by an electrochemical pump; and
moving the sample through a microcolumn to a detection point in less than one minute.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein moving the sample comprises moving the sample through the microcolumn to the detection point in less than 40 seconds such that a presence of a material in the sample can be detected for an elution time of less than 40 seconds.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein pumping comprises applying an electrolysis voltage of 50 volts or less to an electrolyte in the electrochemical pump.
18. The method of claim 15, wherein moving the sample through the microcolumn comprises separating at least one material from another material along the microcolumn, the method further comprising detecting the presence the at least one material.
19. A method for achieving fast liquid chromatography in a microdevice, the method comprising balancing an injection of a sample with an injection of an eluent, wherein balancing the injections of sample and eluent comprises controlling pressure of at least one of the sample and the eluent such that a predetermined amount of sample is injected in a microcolumn of a microdevice.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising selectively applying a voltage in at least one electrochemical pump fluidly coupled to at least one of the sample and the eluent.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein selectively applying the voltage in the electrochemical pump comprises applying a predetermined voltage to an electrolyte for a predetermined time.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising monitoring a current supplied to the electrolyte, providing feedback to a controller, and automatically controlling the current supplied to the electrolyte.
23. The method of claim 21, further comprising monitoring pressure generated by the electrolyte, providing feedback to a controller, and automatically controlling the pressure generated by the electrolyte by changing at least one of the voltage, current, or time.
24. The method of claim 20, wherein selectively applying the voltage comprises:
applying a first predetermined voltage to a first electrolyte in at least one electrochemical sample pump in fluid communication with the sample; and applying a second predetermined voltage to a second electrolyte in at least one additional electrochemical eluent pump in fluid communication with the eluent.