Temperature control system for microfluidic device
A technology of microfluidic devices and temperature control components, applied in fluid controllers, laboratory containers, equipment with spatial temperature gradients, etc., can solve high manufacturing costs, limited performance and operating range, and complex design and control methods sexual issues
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Embodiment 1
[0099] figure 2 An exemplary droplet microfluidic handling system according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. The system is divided into two parts, including the cartridge 49 and the reader 40 .
[0100] A cartridge 49 is shown comprising an EWOD device 41 that may optionally be mounted into a housing (eg, a plastic housing) to form a microfluidic cartridge 49 . For example, the housing could include an upper plastic part 42 and a lower plastic part 44, although this is a matter of design and many arrangements are possible. Typically the cartridge 49 includes an input structure 46 (eg, a hole) for input of fluid, and may optionally also include an output structure 48 whereby liquid can be ejected from the device. The input and output structures are fluidly connected to the fluid gap 35 of the EWOD device ( figure 2 Not shown in ), whereby fluid can be input to the EWOD device and / or fluid can be withdrawn from the EWOD device. EWOD devices typicall...
no. 2 example
[0122] Figure 5 A heating system according to a second embodiment of the invention is shown in . The second embodiment is an extension of the first embodiment, wherein the thermal resistance layer is composed of a first thermal resistance material 452 and a second thermal resistance material 454 with different thermal resistances. The purpose of this is to allow different heat flows from the temperature control elements in two different regions of the device. In this embodiment, the thermal resistance of the first thermal resistance material 452 is much lower than that of the second thermal resistance material 454 . This allows for greater heat flow at the edges of the heating system compared to the middle. In many cases, the EWOD device will have greater heat loss at its edges (assuming the fluid layer is heated above ambient temperature), and providing a first thermally resistive material 452 can compensate for this increased heat loss and enable Devices near the heater ...
no. 3 example
[0125] Figure 6 A heating system according to a third embodiment of the invention is shown in . The third embodiment is an extension of either of the first or second embodiments in that an additional temperature control element 556 is provided on the upper substrate 36 of the EWOD device. Additional temperature control element 556 may be controlled independently of the first temperature control element. The purpose of the additional temperature control element is to control the temperature of the device above or below the ambient temperature, or to control the initial temperature of the droplet.
[0126] An advantage of this embodiment is that it allows a wider range of temperature distributions to be generated within the device.
[0127] The additional temperature control element 556 may be a conventional (planar) heating / cooling element, or it may be another temperature control element 350 of the present invention.
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