Digital microfluidics based apparatus for heat-exchanging chemical processes

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus and method for performing heat-exchanging reactions on an electro wetting-based micro fluidic device. The apparatus provides one or multiple thermal contacts to an electro wetting-based device, where each thermal contact controls the part of the electro wetting-based device it communicates with to a designed temperature. The electrowetting-based device can be used to create, merge and mix liquids in the format of droplets and transport them to different temperature zones on the micro fluidic device. The apparatus and methods of the invention can be used for heat-exchanging chemical processes such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and other DNA reactions, such as ligase chain reactions, for DNA amplification and synthesis, and for real-time PCR.

Description

[0001] cross reference [0002] This application claims priority to US Provisional Patent Application 60 / 946,673, filed June 27, 2007, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. technical field [0003] The present invention relates generally to the field of molecular biology and to methods for amplifying nucleic acid target sequences in droplet-based microfluidic devices. The present invention particularly relates to polymerase chain reaction and isothermal amplification in / on droplet-based microfluidic devices. The present invention also relates to methods of detecting and analyzing nucleic acids in droplet-based microfluidic devices. Background technique [0004] Over the past 20 years or so, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has fundamentally changed the scientific world. This technique amplifies tiny amounts of DNA or RNA so that, for example, they can be detected and analyzed. PCR technology has been applied in many different fields. Exa...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

When attempting to cycle the temperature of the entire device, certain factors make it difficult to have fast cycle times - 1) the time required for heat to diffuse from the temperature control element into the liquid in the center; 2) the device's degree of Thermal inertia also limits the rate at which the entire device can be temperature cycled; 3) subjecting the entire device to temperature cycling exposes the entire device to repeated thermal shocks, which may make some possible properties on the device (such as thermal bonding and hydrophobic coatings) layer) failure

This places a greater burden on manufacturing a reliable device, which in turn drives up manufacturing costs further

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