Precision fluid dispensers play a crucial role in manufacturing the products we interact with regularly. They are used in a wide range of industries, so much so, we often forget their role in our everyday lives.In this article, we will provide a brief overview of fluid dispensing systems, highlight their applications, discuss common challenges with the technology, and share an overview of <a href="https://www.voltera.io/products/nova">NOVA</a>, our materials dispensing system.&nbsp;<h2>What are precision fluid dispensing systems?</h2>Precision fluid dispensing systems allow users to deposit micro amounts of assembly fluids onto a substrate in targeted areas. When dealing in microlitres or nanolitres, the amount of fluid deposited is often nearly impossible to control with most manual pumps and flowmeters. These systems were developed to implement control, precision, accuracy, and consistency in applications requiring microdispensing.The two most common types of systems for fluid dispensing are:&nbsp;<h4>Non-contact&nbsp;</h4>Also known as jet dispensing or jetting. In a jetting system, the fluid is deposited or “jetted” onto the substrate from a distance.&nbsp;<h4>Contact&nbsp;</h4>This method uses a valve to deposit material in a highly controlled manner. It offers compatibility with a wider range of fluids compared to non-contact systems. Some examples of contact systems include:<ul><li>Pneumatic/time pressure: Pulses of air engage the top of the plunger in a specific pattern, driving the plunger forward in the syringe and depositing material.</li><li>Mechanical positive displacement: A rod or piston that forces fluid out of the cartridge.</li><li>Auger: A motor enables the auger screw to rotate, pulling material from the reservoir and guiding it towards the nozzle.</li><li>Progressive cavity (PC) pump: Similar to an auger system, PC pumps utilize a rotor and stator to fill tightly sealed cavities with precise amounts of fluid which are then pushed towards the nozzle, enabling larger consistent deposits with high viscosity fluids.</li></ul><h3>Fluid dispensing applications</h3>Numerous industries utilize dispensing systems for depositing materials, such as:<ul><li>Electronics: <a href="https://www.voltera.io/blog/what-is-solder-paste">Solder pastes</a>, conductive adhesives, <a href="https://www.voltera.io/blog/role-conductive-inks-additive-electronics-manufacturing">conductive inks</a>, flux, coatings, underfill adhesives, and dam and fill.&nbsp;</li><li>Medical: <a href="https://www.voltera.io/use-cases/white-papers/printing-ecg-electrodes-biocompatible-gold-ink-tpu">Biomarker detection</a>, and in- and on-body <a href="https://www.voltera.io/blog/printed-tattoo-electrodes">biomedical sensors</a>.&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://www.voltera.io/blog/copper-rfid-tag">RFID</a>: Eco-friendly and cost effective non-contact data transfer and localization systems.</li></ul>Recent <a href="https://www.precedenceresearch.com/fluid-dispensing-systems-market">research</a> indicates the electrical and electronics assembly segment was the leading global market for fluid dispensing equipment in 2024.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1752481085375-6824a6de43f1ffa35b392ab0_precision-fluid-dispensing-system-market-share.webp" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Fluid dispensing systems market share, by application in 2024. Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.precedenceresearch.com/fluid-dispensing-systems-market">Precedence Research</a><h3 id="isPasted">Materials used in fluid dispensing&nbsp;</h3>Precision fluid dispensers enable a diverse range of <a href="https://www.voltera.io/blog/compatibility-guide-inks-substrates">material compatibility</a>. Some of the most common materials used in these systems are:<ul><li>Flux:&nbsp;A chemical compound used in preparing metal surfaces for soldering.&nbsp;</li><li>Conductive ink: Printable materials that are capable of conducting electricity.&nbsp;</li><li>Lubricant: Oily materials that help reduce friction in surfaces that contact each other.&nbsp;</li><li>Solder paste: Powdered metal solder that is suspended in flux. &nbsp;</li><li>Adhesive:&nbsp;Substances that are capable of&nbsp;holding at least two surfaces together permanently.</li><li>Sealants: Materials that attach at least two surfaces together, filling the space between them.</li><li>Conformal coatings: A film applied over components that provides protection against contaminants and environmental factors.</li><li>Epoxy underfill:&nbsp;An epoxy-material used in PCBs to connect a chip to the board through capillary action.</li></ul>In the same research report referenced above, the graph below shows the growth of fluid dispensing systems of various materials in the global market.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1752481145334-6824a7182f16b031a170df7a_precision-fluid-dispensing-system-global-market.webp" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Fluid dispensing systems market share, by region, 2024. Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.precedenceresearch.com/fluid-dispensing-systems-market" id="isPasted">Precedence Research</a>Though the Asia-Pacific region accounted for 46% of the global revenue for fluid dispensing equipment in 2024, the global demand is projected to increase for systems that are compatible with lubricant, solder paste, adhesives, and sealants. This is primarily driven by advancements in electronics and automotive manufacturing [1].<h2>Benefits of precision fluid dispensing&nbsp;</h2>The primary benefit of precision fluid dispensers is the ability to print high-resolution patterns and features quickly. They are designed to implement control methods to ensure high quality results are achieved. Many applications developed using these systems require consistent prints in high volume orders, so repeatability is key.These systems can also be integrated into production lines to significantly reduce development time. They offer customizable features like interchangeable dispensers and programmable settings. Swappable dispensers allow users to disperse different types of material that would otherwise take longer to complete using manual processes, or even require a different tool altogether. A user can switch from a precision nozzle designed for depositing an adhesive ink, to a nozzle designed for spraying a coating in a matter of seconds.<h2>Challenges with precision dispensing systems</h2>One of the primary challenges that exists is finding the right system for your application. Unless you’re a material scientist, it is easy to become overwhelmed by technical specifications, even if you know your application’s requirements. There is no one-size-fits-all materials dispensing system on the market; each has its own advantages and disadvantages, most often tailored to specific applications. Even after settling on a system to purchase, it's extremely common to face difficulties with material reliability and flow.Let’s say you have your system, the material, and a substrate. How do you tell the system where to deposit the fluid? How much should it deposit? When and where should it start and stop?&nbsp;Balancing these aspects while also adjusting settings to manage consistency, material leakage, and quality results, is often no easy task — especially without an intuitive user interface.<h2>NOVA: Voltera’s precision fluid dispensing system</h2><a href="https://www.voltera.io/products/nova">NOVA</a> is a precision materials dispensing system that dispenses screen-printable materials (1,000 to 1,000,000 cP) on flexible, stretchable, conformable, and biocompatible materials, as well as rigid substrates. It is ideal for:<ul><li>Flexible hybrid electronics R&amp;D</li><li>Novel materials research</li><li>Precise material dispensing</li><li>Seamless transition to mass production</li></ul>In 2025, we released <a href="https://www.voltera.io/blog/print-multilayer-flexible-stretchable-circuits-nova">Plan</a>, a software feature that enables multilayer printing and print job editing for NOVA, further improving user experience for printing multi-material and multilayer circuit designs.&nbsp;<h3>Benefits of NOVA</h3><ul><li>Achieve repeatable results with close-loop pressure feedback, temp-controlled dispensing, and an optimized algorithm for multilayer printing.</li><li>Stack up to four layers of materials and visualize multilayer print sequences before execution.</li><li>Experiment with a wide range of printable materials, from conductive inks and adhesives to solder paste on both flexible and rigid substrates.</li><li>Change designs on the fly and iterate without screens or stencils, eliminating delays and reducing costs while prototyping in-house.</li><li>…and more</li></ul>For technical specifications of NOVA, <a href="https://www.voltera.io/technical-specifications">click here</a>.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1752481175307-6824a7a66bae719bafe5740e_precision-fluid-dispensing-system-nova-carbon.webp" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">NOVA printing a functional carbon ink developed by Voltera’s Applications team on PET sheet<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1752481189539-6824a7e2eb0941c0b3792081_precision-fluid-dispensing-system-nova-stretchable.webp" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">NOVA printing the ACI SH5025 printed fixed resistance heater ink on cotton fabric<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1752481209704-6824a801659d73890470e99d_precision-fluid-dispensing-system-nova-gold.webp" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">NOVA printing Creative Materials’ EXP 2613-40 biocompatible gold ink on TPU to make ECG electrodes<h2 id="isPasted">Conclusion</h2>As additive manufacturing continues to revolutionize research outcomes and product development, innovators are searching for the right solution to meet their goals. They’re looking to accelerate development timelines and find cost effective methods for achieving reliable, high quality results.If you would like to see if&nbsp;<a href="https://www.voltera.io/products/nova">NOVA</a> is a fit for your application,&nbsp;<a href="https://meetings.hubspot.com/royperez/v-one-or-nova-demo?__hstc=13863464.442141b0ea5e62795d6bc78aca77beb8.1746398746144.1746398746144.1752480938948.2&__hssc=13863464.1.1752480938948&__hsfp=2848152525">book a meeting</a> with one of our application specialists.&nbsp;<hr><h2>References</h2>[1] Precedent Research,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.precedenceresearch.com/fluid-dispensing-systems-market">Fluid Dispensing Systems Market Size, Share, and Trends 2025 to 2034</a>, 2025.

In this article, we will provide a brief overview of fluid dispensing systems, highlight their applications, discuss common challenges with the technology, and share an overview of NOVA, our materials dispensing system.

What are Precision Fluid Dispensing Systems?

Bioengineering researchers at the <a href="https://seas.harvard.edu/">Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences</a> (SEAS) have developed a soft, thin, stretchable bioelectronic device that can be implanted into a tadpole embryo’s neural plate, the early-stage, flat structure that folds to become the 3D brain and spinal cord.The researchers demonstrated that the device could integrate seamlessly into the brain as it develops and record electrical activity from single brain cells with millisecond precision, with no impact on normal tadpole embryo development or behavior.These so-called cyborg tadpoles offer a glimpse into a future in which profound mysteries of the brain could be illuminated, and diseases that manifest in early development could be understood, treated, or cured.“Autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia – these all could happen at early developmental stages,” said Jia Liu, <a href="https://seas.harvard.edu/person/jia-liu">Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at</a> SEAS. “There is just no ability currently to measure neural activity during early neural development. Our technology will really enable an uncharted area.”The research is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09106-8" target="_blank">Nature</a>.In vertebrate embryos, the folding and expansion of the neural plate into the neural tube, which is the precursor to the brain and spinal cord, involves complex morphological changes over millisecond time scales, Liu said. By integrating their stretchable device into the neural plate, the researchers showed they could stably and continuously monitor brain activity during each subsequent embryonic stage.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1751749445397-tadpole_fig_1.jpg" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A schematic of the stepwise implantation of soft mesh electronics into the tadpole embryo brain.In the past, scientists have used patch-clamp or metal electrodes inserted into mature brains to record electrical activity of single neurons with high resolution. Further breakthroughs in tissue-like microelectronics from Liu’s previous work have made single-cell brain recording even less invasive. Yet in fully developed brains, neurons connect with each other at nanometer resolutions; no matter how soft and small brain probes are, implanting them requires at least some neuronal damage, Liu said. &nbsp;“If we can fully leverage the natural development process, we will have the ability to implant a lot of sensors across the 3D brain noninvasively, and at the same time, monitor how brain activity gradually evolves over time,” Liu said. “No one has ever done this before.” &nbsp;This research builds on a multi-year effort to create soft, flexible, non-invasive bioelectronics for brains, which have the consistency of tofu. In previous studies, the team embedded electrode arrays into petri dishes of stem cells. The thin electrodes stretched and folded with growing tissue and created cyborg heart and <a href="https://seas.harvard.edu/news/2022/02/cyborg-brain-organoids-offer-insight-early-brain-development">brain organoids</a>.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1751749463154-tadpole_fig_3.jpg" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Immunostaining depicts the contact between tadpole brain tissue and mesh electronics (red).&nbsp;Though the organoid studies were successful, integrating nanoelectronics into amphibian embryos posed new challenges, according to Liu. “It turns out tadpole embryos are much softer than human stem cell-derived tissue,” he said. “We ultimately had to change everything, including developing new electronic materials.”The researchers made a new type of implant out of&nbsp;<a href="https://seas.harvard.edu/news/2024/01/long-lasting-neural-probe">fluorinated elastomers</a>, which are as soft as biological tissue but can be engineered into highly resilient electronic components that can withstand nanofabrication processes and house multiple sensors for recording brain activity.The fluorinated elastomer, called perfluoropolyether-dimethacrylate, is intellectual property protected by Harvard’s Office of Technology Development, which licensed the technology to the start-up company&nbsp;<a href="https://axoft.us/" target="_blank">Axoft</a> for further development. Liu co-founded Axoft in 2021, and the company is focused on development of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.24.25326126v3" target="_blank">scalable, soft bioelectronics</a> for brain-machine interface applications.<hr>The study’s first author is Harvard postdoctoral fellow Hao Sheng. Co-authors were Ren Liu, Qiang Li, Zuwan Lin, Yichun He, Thomas S. Blum, Hao Zhao, Xin Tang, Wenbo Wang, Lishuai Jin, Zheliang Wang, Emma Hsiao, Paul Le Floch, Hao Shen, Ariel J. Lee, Rachael Alice Jonas-Closs, James Briggs, Siyi Liu, Daniel Solomon, Xiao Wang, Jessica L. Whited, and Nanshu Lu.The research received federal support from the National Institutes of Health / National Institutes of Mental Health under grant No. 1RF1MH123948; the National Science Foundation / Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation under grant No. 2422348; and the National Institutes of Health / National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under grant No. 1R01HD115272.

Thin electrode arrays integrate seamlessly into developing embryos' brains

Cyborg tadpoles with soft, flexible neural implants

"Our work provides a proof-of-concept showing a path to a single-step method that could be used to identify and measure nucleic acids and proteins," says Paul Rothemund (BS '94), a visiting associate at Caltech in computing and mathematical sciences, and computation and neural systems.A<a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2311279121">&nbsp;paper</a> describing the work recently appeared in the journal&nbsp;Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The lead authors of the paper are former Caltech postdoctoral scholar Byoung-jin Jeon and current graduate student Matteo M. Guareschi, who completed the work in Rothemund's lab.In 2006, Rothemund published the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature04586">first paper on DNA origami</a>, a technique that provides simple yet exquisite control over the design of molecular structures at the nanoscale using nothing more than DNA.Essentially DNA origami enables long strands of DNA to fold, through self-assembly, into any desired shape. (In the 2006 paper, Rothemund famously used the technique to create miniature DNA smiley faces measuring 100 nanometers across and 2 nanometers thick). Researchers begin with a long strand of DNA, the scaffold, in solution. Because the nucleotide bases that make up DNA bind in a known way (adenine binds to thymine, and guanine binds to cytosine), the scientists can add hundreds of short sequences of complementary DNA knowing they will bind to the scaffold on either end at known locations. Those short, added pieces of DNA fold the scaffold and give it shape, acting as "staples" that hold the structure together. The technique can then be used to create shapes ranging from a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8853-dna-origami-creates-map-of-the-americas/">map of North and South America</a> to nanoscale transistors.In the new work, Rothemund and his colleagues used DNA origami to create a lilypad-like structure—a flat, circular surface about 100 nanometers in diameter, tethered by a DNA linker to a gold electrode. Both the lilypad and the electrode have short DNA strands available to bind with an analyte, a molecule of interest in solution—whether that be a molecule of DNA, a protein, or an antibody. When the analyte binds to those short strands, the lilypad gets pulled down to the gold surface, bringing 70 reporter molecules on the lilypad (which indicate that the targeted molecule is present) into contact with the gold surface. These reporters are redox reactive molecules, meaning they can easily lose electrons during a reaction. So, when they get sufficiently close to an electrode, an electric current can be observed. A stronger current indicates that more of the molecule of interest is present.Previously, a similar approach to making biosensors was developed using a single DNA strand rather than a DNA origami structure. That earlier work was led by Kevin W. Plaxco (PhD '94) of UC Santa Barbara, who is also an author of the current paper.Caltech's Guareschi points out that the new lilypad origami is large compared to a single DNA strand. "That means it can fit 70 reporters on a single molecule and keep them away from the surface before binding. Then when the analyte is bound and the lilypad reaches the electrode, there is a large signal gain, making the change easy to detect," Guareschi says.The relatively large size of the lilypad origami also means that the system can readily accommodate and detect larger molecules, such as large proteins. In the new paper, the team showed that the two short DNA strands on the lilypad and the gold surface could be used as adapters, making it a sensor for proteins rather than for DNA. In the work, the researchers added the vitamin biotin to those short DNA strands to turn the system into a sensor for the protein streptavidin. Then they added a DNA aptamer, a DNA strand that can bind to a specific protein; in this case, they used an aptamer that binds to a protein called platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB), which could be used to help diagnose diseases such as cirrhosis and inflammatory bowel disease."We just add these simple molecules to the system, and it's ready to sense something different," Guareschi says. "It's large enough to accommodate whatever you throw at it—that could be aptamers, nanobodies, fragments of antibodies—and it doesn't need to be completely redesigned every time."The researchers also show that the sensor can be reused several times, with new adapters added each round for different detections. Although the performance slightly degrades over time, the current system could be reused at least four times.In the future, the team hopes the system might also be useful for proteomics—studies that determine what proteins are in a sample and at what concentrations. "You could have multiple sensors at the same time with different analytes, and then you could do a wash, switch the analytes, and remeasure. And you could do that several times," Guareschi says. "Within a few hours, you could measure hundreds of proteins using a single system."Additional authors of the paper, "Modular DNA origami-based electrochemical detection of DNA and proteins," are Jaimie M. Stewart of UCLA; Emily Wu and Ashwin Gopinath of MIT, Netzahualcóyotl Arroyo-Currás of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Philippe Dauphin-Ducharme of the Université de Sherbrooke in Canada; and Philip S. Lukeman of St. John's University in New York.The team used fabrication equipment at the<a href="https://kni.caltech.edu/">&nbsp;Kavli Nanoscience Institute</a> at Caltech. The work was supported by the Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, and the Life Sciences Research Foundation supported by Merck Research Laboratories.

A coarse-grained model of the DNA origami lilypad used in the study. The tails hanging down indicate where redox reporters are located. For scale, the diameter of the disk is approximately 80 nm. Credit: Model: Matteo Guareschi/Caltech; Software: OxView

Using an approach called DNA origami, scientists at Caltech have developed a technique that could lead to cheaper, reusable biomarker sensors for quickly detecting proteins in bodily fluids, eliminating the need to send samples out to lab centers for testing.

bioelectronics

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What are Precision Fluid Dispensing Systems?

Cyborg tadpoles with soft, flexible neural implants

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