Microfluidic chip apparatus and microfluidic processing system

Abstract

A microfluidic wafer device and a microfluidic processing system are disclosed. The microfluidic wafer device includes a housing, a circuit board, conductive foam disposed above the circuit board, and a microfluidic wafer disposed above the conductive foam. The housing has an injection track. The microfluidic wafer includes a top plate formed of a conductive material and a microelectrode array disposed below the top plate, defining a space between the top plate and the microelectrode array. The conductive foam and the top plate extend beyond at least one side of the microelectrode array and are in contact with each other. The injection track communicates with the space, allowing microbeads to be injected into the space via the injection track. The microfluidic processing system includes the microfluidic wafer device and a control device.

Claims

1. A microfluidic wafer device, comprising: a housing having at least one injection track; a circuit board; a conductive foam configured to be placed above the circuit board; and a microfluidic wafer configured to be placed above the conductive foam, and comprising: a top plate formed of a conductive material; and a microelectrode array disposed below the top plate, wherein a space is defined between the top plate and the microelectrode array; wherein... The conductive foam and the top plate extend beyond at least one side of the microelectrode array and are in contact with each other, wherein the at least one injection track is connected to the space so that at least one microbead can be injected into the space via the at least one injection track.

2. The microfluidic wafer device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the microelectrode array includes a plurality of microelectrode elements connected in series, each microelectrode element being configured to read a corresponding sample operation setting in a first time interval, the conductive foam being configured to conduct electricity in a second time interval to give the top plate a preset voltage level, and each microelectrode element being further configured to enter a sample control state in the second time interval according to the corresponding sample operation setting.

3. The microfluidic wafer device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the microelectrode elements are divided into an injection control region and a non-injection control region, the sample operation settings read by the microelectrode elements corresponding to the injection control region are such that the microelectrode elements corresponding to the injection control region operate during the second time interval, and the sample operation settings read by the microelectrode elements corresponding to the non-injection control region are such that the microelectrode elements corresponding to the non-injection control region do not operate during the second time interval.

4. The microfluidic wafer device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the injection control region is adjacent to the at least one injection track.

5. The microfluidic wafer device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the microelectrode array includes a plurality of microelectrode elements connected in series, the microelectrode elements being configured to detect a plurality of capacitance values ​​between the top plate and the microelectrode elements one-to-one in a first time interval, and the microelectrode elements being further configured to output the capacitance values ​​one-to-one in a plurality of sub-time intervals in a second time interval.

6. A microfluidic processing system, comprising: a control device; and a microfluidic wafer device electrically connected to the control device, and comprising: a first housing having at least one injection track; a first circuit board; a conductive foam configured to be placed above the first circuit board; and a microfluidic wafer configured to be placed above the conductive foam, and comprising a top plate and a microelectrode array, wherein the top plate is formed of a conductive material, the microelectrode array is disposed below the top plate, and a space is defined between the top plate and the microelectrode array; wherein... The conductive foam and the top plate extend beyond at least one side of the microelectrode array and are in contact with each other, wherein the at least one injection track is connected to the space so that at least one microbead can be injected into the space via the at least one injection track.

7. The microfluidic processing system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the microelectrode array comprises a plurality of microelectrode elements connected in series, the control device is configured to provide a plurality of sample operation settings in a first time interval, and the microelectrode elements are configured to read the sample operation settings one-to-one in the first time interval, wherein, The conductive foam is configured to conduct electricity in a second time interval so that the top plate has a preset voltage level, and each of the microelectrode elements is further configured to enter a sample control state in the second time interval according to the corresponding sample operation setting.

8. The microfluidic processing system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the microelectrode elements are divided into an injection control region and a non-injection control region, the sample operation settings read by the microelectrode elements corresponding to the injection control region are such that the microelectrode elements corresponding to the injection control region operate during a second time interval, and the sample operation settings read by the microelectrode elements corresponding to the non-injection control region are such that the microelectrode elements corresponding to the non-injection control region do not operate during the second time interval.

9. The microfluidic processing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the injection control region is adjacent to the at least one injection track.

10. The microfluidic processing system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the microelectrode elements are configured to detect a plurality of capacitance values ​​between the top plate and the microelectrode elements one-to-one in a first time interval, the microelectrode elements are further configured to output the capacitance values ​​one-to-one in a plurality of sub-time intervals in a second time interval, and the control device is configured to receive the capacitance values ​​in the second time interval.

11. The microfluidic processing system of claim 10, wherein the control device is further configured to determine a size and a position of each of the at least one microbead between the top plate and the microelectrode array based on the capacitance values.

12. The microfluidic processing system of claim 10, wherein the control device is further configured to transmit the capacitance values ​​to a computing device, such that the computing device determines a size and a position of each of the at least one microbead between the top plate and the microelectrode array based on the capacitance values.

13. The microfluidic processing system as claimed in claim 6 further comprises: a second circuit board electrically connected to the control device and the microfluidic wafer device; and a second housing configured to house the control device and the second circuit board.

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