MUX by Elveflow: Simple Microfluidic Automation with AMF RVM

Elveflow is a French company specialized in microfluidic flow control systems, widely recognized in the academic world for its high-performance pressure controllers. With a strong presence in research labs across biology, chemistry, and physics, Elveflow built its reputation on delivering precise, responsive, and user-friendly systems for manipulating fluids at the microscale.

A few years ago, Elveflow identified a recurring need among its users: beyond flow control, researchers wanted a simple way to automate fluid routing, selecting and switching between multiple reagents, without adding complexity or requiring deep expertise in microfluidic hardware. Many of their users were non-specialists, working on early-stage experiments or proof-of-concept platforms, and needed a solution that was plug-and-play, compact, and software-controlled.

This led to the development of the MUX valve platform, a family of microfluidic modules designed to simplify fluid selection, distribution, and recirculation. At the heart of each MUX is AMF’s RVM rotary valve, chosen for its low internal volume, dead-volume-free architecture, and mechanical reliability.

With the MUX, Elveflow offers its users an all-in-one solution: microfluidic routing made accessible, with the precision of AMF components and the ease-of-use of Elveflow’s automation software.

Turning complexity into simplicity for fluid routing

Once the decision to expand beyond flow control was made, Elveflow set out to design a fluid routing system that would be as intuitive and reliable as their pressure controllers. But creating a general-purpose microfluidic valve platform came with its own set of technical hurdles.

To be truly useful across a wide range of research applications, the system had to:

• Handle multiple fluid inputs with fast and precise switching
• Maintain clean separation between reagents, with minimal dead volume and no carry-over
• Integrate easily into pressure-based flow setups
• Be software-controllable, ideally without any coding required
• Remain compact and modular for benchtop

Moreover, Elveflow’s target users, academic researchers or engineers in really early-stage development, needed a solution that could be installed and operated quickly, without requiring advanced knowledge of fluid routing or microfluidic integration.

In short: Elveflow needed a robust, precise, and accessible valve core that could serve as the foundation for a new generation of microfluidic automation tools. That’s where our rotary valve came in.

Precision engineered: How the RVM powers the MUX

To address this challenge, Elveflow chose to integrate AMF’s RVM rotary valve into the core of their MUX product line.

The RVM Industrial Microfluidic Rotary Valve offers:

• Ultra-low internal volume and dead-volume-free switching
• A 12-to-1 or 10-to-1 configuration for flexible fluid selection
• Distribution or switch (recirculation) valve
• Clean, reproducible switching without turbulence or bubble formation
• A compact footprint ideal for integration into benchtop or OEM setups
• Swiss made, high quality

With AMF’s RVM inside, Elveflow created two key products:

• MUX Recirculation: A switch valve configuration for recirculating or redirecting flow between two points.

• MUX Distribution: A distribution valve enabling automated selection of up to 12 fluids into a single channel.

Both MUX devices are fully controlled via Elveflow’s Smart Interface software, providing a user-friendly GUI for automating protocols, without any code.

Built for research: Reliable, low-volume switching at your fingertips

By embedding AMF’s RVM into the MUX platform, Elveflow delivered a system that combines hardware reliability with software-driven flexibility. The choice of the RVM provided concrete performance advantages that directly support sensitive and low-volume workflows:

• No dead volume: The RVM’s internal geometry is fully machined to avoid dead zones, preserving reagent integrity. This is essential for biological assays, where even nanoliter-scale contamination can affect results.
• Minimal internal volume: With a minimal internal volume of just 2.5 µL, the RVM ensures clean switching between reagents, avoiding dilution effects or signal drift, especially valuable in sequencing or kinetic studies.
• Fast switching: The valve switches positions in just 150 to 160 ms, enabling high-frequency transitions between fluids without disrupting flow, and supporting time-sensitive protocols like droplet formation or multi-step assays.
• Robust lifetime: Built with high-precision components derived from watchmaking expertise, the RVM is rated for over millions switching cycles, making it a reliable component even in long-term or high-throughput experiments.
• Compact & modular design: Measuring only 38 × 30 × 43 mm, the RVM integrates seamlessly into Elveflow’s benchtop systems without increasing the platform’s footprint, ideal for space-constrained lab setups.
• Plug-and-play automation: Controlled directly through the Elveflow Smart Interface, the MUX requires no custom coding. Users can automate their fluidic sequences graphically, in sync with pressure regulators and flow sensors.

These specifications make the RVM-powered MUX a practical choice for labs needing fast, reproducible, and easy-to-use fluid switching—without sacrificing performance.

Proven in the lab: Automation that scales with your workflow

Since launching the MUX platform, Elveflow has enabled a wide range of labs to automate fluid routing with confidence—even without prior experience in microfluidics.

• In an automated 3D immunoassay system, the MUX powered sequential reagent injection into a custom PDMS flow cell, enabling chronoamperometric detection with minimal human intervention.
• In a droplet sequencing application, researchers used the MUX to route 12 reagents, separated by oil plugs, into a chip with 2,261 droplet traps, achieving fully automated, contamination-free droplet production.

These examples illustrate the versatility and performance of the MUX system, and how AMF’s RVM rotary valve provides the fluidic backbone for real-world scientific innovation.

One platform, many possibilities

The MUX platform, with its integrated RVM valve, is particularly suited for applications such as:

• Biosensor development: Automated, sequential reagent delivery in electrochemical or optical detection formats
• Droplet microfluidics: Generation and trapping of reagent droplets with precise spacing and minimal carry-over
• Enzymatic assays & reaction kinetics: Sequential reagent mixing and incubation under tightly controlled timing
• Point-of-care prototyping: Compact fluidic automation for rapid diagnostic test development
• High-throughput screening: Easy routing of compound libraries or biological samples into microfluidic analysis chips

Making microfluidics accessible, without compromise

Elveflow’s MUX platform, powered by AMF’s RVM rotary valve, is a compelling example of how precision microfluidic components can enable accessible, modular, and fully automated solutions for research labs.

By combining AMF’s engineering expertise in ultra-low volume fluidic routing with Elveflow’s intuitive software and system design, the MUX provides a powerful tool for anyone seeking to automate and simplify complex microfluidic workflows without sacrificing precision, reproducibility, or ease of use.