Air delivery component, heating assembly and biochip for a biochip

Abstract

The application discloses an air transmission component, a heating assembly and a biochip for the biochip, wherein the U-shaped structure is internally provided with an air groove, the U-shaped structure comprises a first straight line part, a second straight line part and a connecting part, the connecting part is fixed with an air inlet communicated with the air groove, the upper surface of the first straight line part is provided with a mounting groove, a plurality of air outlets are arranged in the bottom of the mounting groove and the lower side wall of the first straight line part, a transparent panel is mounted in the mounting groove, and the upper side wall of the second straight line part is provided with a plurality of air outlets. The biochip is heated by the hot air heating mode, the main heat transfer mode is heat convection, and a certain gap is left between the hot air outlet and the biochip, so that the requirement that the heating part and the heated part are in contact is avoided, the flatness requirement of the surface of the biochip is relatively low, the hot air flow and temperature of different air groove outlets are basically consistent, and the uniformity of the biochip heating is well ensured.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to heating components for biochips, and more particularly to an air transmission component, heating component, and biochip for plate-type biochips. Background Technology

[0002] PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) is a molecular biology technique that utilizes the property that DNA denatures into single strands at a high temperature of 95°C in vitro, and that these single strands bind to primers according to the principle of complementary base pairing at a low temperature of around 60°C. When the temperature is adjusted to the optimal reaction temperature of DNA polymerase at around 72°C, DNA polymerase synthesizes complementary strands along the direction from phosphate to pentose sugar (5'-3').

[0003] A PCR instrument is a device that achieves excellent control over denaturation temperature, annealing temperature, and extension temperature, enabling the amplification of specific DNA.

[0004] Plate-type biochips, taking microfluidic chips as an example, integrate the basic operational units of biological, chemical, and medical analysis processes, such as sample preparation, reaction, separation, and detection, onto a single micrometer-scale chip, automatically completing the entire analysis process.

[0005] Currently, biochip reactors are non-independent reactors, integrating the reactor and the chip into a single unit, while PCR instruments need to provide the different temperatures required for DNA amplification.

[0006] For traditional board-type chips, temperature regulation using thermoelectric coolers for heating and cooling requires high precision in the contact surface between the chip and the thermoelectric cooler, as well as high precision in the flatness of the chip surface.

[0007] To simultaneously meet the requirements of heating and fluorescence detection, a transparent structure needs to be set on one side of the plate chip, and the semiconductor cooling pad can only be placed on the side of the chip, which will cause uneven heating effect of Peltier on the chip.

[0008] Patent CN213012879U discloses a PCR amplification instrument, relating to the field of biomolecular instruments. It includes a housing, a sample loading module, a Peltier, and a circulating fan. The sample loading module is housed within the housing and is used to contain samples. The Peltier is positioned below the sample loading module and can generate heat or cool when powered on. The circulating fan is located to one side of the Peltier, allowing it to blow the cooled or heated air from the Peltier towards the sample loading module. The sample loading module holds the PCR samples to be amplified. The Peltier's ability to generate heat or cool air within the housing, when powered on, heats or cools the air inside the housing. The circulating fan circulates the hot or cold gas within the housing, enabling the samples placed on the sample loading module to rapidly heat up or cool down, thereby increasing the amplification rate of the PCR samples.

[0009] This patent uses a semiconductor cooling chip to regulate the temperature during heating and cooling. The main heat transfer path of this heating method is heat conduction. Therefore, it has high requirements for the contact between the chip and the semiconductor cooling chip, requiring high flatness of the chip surface and a certain pressure between the heating element and the heated element. This is difficult to guarantee during the production process.

[0010] In addition, in order to meet the requirements of heating and fluorescence detection at the same time, a transparent structure needs to be set on one side of the plate chip. The semiconductor cooling chip can only be placed on the side of the plate chip. This method of heating by heat conduction will result in a significant temperature deviation on the chip if the heat source is biased to one side of the chip. This will cause uneven heating effect of Peltier on the chip. Currently, there is a centrifuge tube heating method that can avoid this problem, but it cannot solve the detection problem of plate chips. Summary of the Invention

[0011] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an air transmission component and heating assembly for biochips that addresses the shortcomings of the prior art, so that the flow rate and temperature of multiple hot air outlets are basically the same, ensuring the uniformity of heating, while not affecting optical detection.

[0012] The present invention also provides a biochip that ensures uniform heating of the biochip without affecting optical detection.

[0013] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: an air transmission component for a biochip, comprising a U-shaped structure, wherein an air groove is provided inside the U-shaped structure, the U-shaped structure includes a first straight section, a second straight section, and a connecting section connected to the first straight section and the second straight section, the connecting section being fixed with an air inlet communicating with the air groove, the upper surface of the first straight section having an installation groove, and multiple air outlet pipes being provided through the bottom of the installation groove and the lower side wall of the first straight section, a transparent panel being installed in the installation groove, multiple air outlet pipes being provided on the upper side wall of the second straight section, and strip-shaped grooves being provided at the ends of the first straight section and the second straight section away from the connecting section, the strip-shaped grooves communicating with the air groove;

[0014] The plate-type biochip is placed between the first straight section and the second straight section, and the air outlet pipe corresponds one-to-one with the micro-chambers that need to be heated on the front and back sides of the plate-type biochip.

[0015] This invention uses hot air heating to heat a plate-type biochip. A certain gap is left between the hot air outlet and the chip, and the requirements for the flatness of the chip surface are relatively low. A symmetrical air channel is designed, and by creating strip-shaped grooves at the ends of the connecting parts, airflow vortices on the innermost side are reduced, making the temperatures of the multiple air outlets more similar. This design can significantly improve the temperature uniformity when different microchambers are heated. A transparent panel is installed in the mounting slot, which does not affect optical detection. The optical detector can detect the plate-type biochip through the air outlet.

[0016] Furthermore, in order to make the temperatures of the multiple exhaust pipes more similar, the length of the strip groove is 15-25mm and the width is 0.5-1.5mm.

[0017] Furthermore, the air trough adopts a variable cross-section design, with the cross-section decreasing sequentially from the air inlet side to the outlet pipe side. Due to heat and velocity losses during the flow process, the temperature and velocity of the hot air at the outlet of each row of troughs will inevitably differ. To address the temperature difference between each row of troughs, a variable cross-section design is employed to mitigate this temperature disparity.

[0018] The air slots in the first straight section and the second straight section can be designed in a conical shape, or the air slots in the first straight section and the second straight section can be designed in a right-angled trapezoidal shape in axial section, so that the cross-sectional area of ​​the air slot in the first straight section gradually decreases from the inlet to the outlet.

[0019] Furthermore, in order to improve the temperature difference between multiple air outlet pipes, the length of the air outlet pipe increases by 1-1.5 mm from the air inlet side to the air outlet pipe side.

[0020] Furthermore, the diameter of the outlet pipe is 0.1-1 mm larger than the diameter of the microchamber. This allows all the heat from the hot air to be concentrated in the microchamber that needs to be heated, maximizing the heating rate of the microchamber and improving detection efficiency.

[0021] Furthermore, the air outlet pipe is provided in three rows, with four air outlets in each row.

[0022] Furthermore, in order to fix the heating tube to the air inlet and allow the air to develop fully in the inlet section to make the flow more stable, the length of the air inlet is 10-25mm.

[0023] Furthermore, the end of the air outlet pipe is 0.5-1.5mm away from the plate-type biochip, and does not directly contact the plate-type biochip. The flatness requirement for the chip surface is also relatively low, and the hot air outlet can completely cover the microchamber of the plate-type biochip.

[0024] The present invention also discloses a heating component for a biochip, including an air transmission component and a heating tube connected to the air inlet. The heating tube is equipped with a solenoid valve, and the other end of the heating tube is connected to an air pump. The heating tube is equipped with a pressure regulating module.

[0025] The pressurized gas discharged from the air pump passes through the solenoid valve and is heated to a certain temperature in the heating tube. The hot air then passes through the designed air tank to heat the sample liquid in multiple microchambers simultaneously, achieving the stable temperature required for DNA amplification. The acquisition of the stable temperature requires PID control.

[0026] Furthermore, the heating tubes are provided in two or more sets and are connected to the air inlet via connectors.

[0027] The present invention also discloses a biochip including the heating component.

[0028] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0029] 1. This invention can effectively solve the two main problems of heating semiconductor cooling chips. The invention uses hot air heating to heat the chip, and the main heat transfer method is heat convection. A certain gap is left between the hot air outlet and the chip, which avoids the requirement for contact between the heating element and the heated element. At the same time, the flatness requirement of the chip surface is also relatively low.

[0030] 2. In addition, in the chip heating section, the present invention designs an air groove with symmetrical upper and lower sections. By optimizing the flow channel inside the air groove, the hot air flow rate and temperature at the outlets of different air grooves can be made basically consistent, which well ensures the uniformity of chip heating.

[0031] 3. Since it is air heating, simply replace one side cover of the air tank with a transparent material that does not affect optical detection. This will avoid the problem of uneven heating caused by the semiconductor cooling chip's consideration of optical detection without affecting optical detection. Attached Figure Description

[0032] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of an air transmission component in one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 .

[0033] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of an air transmission component in one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 .

[0034] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the air transmission component in use according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the air groove structure of the air transmission component in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the planar structure of an air transmission component in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Figure 6 for Figure 5 A bottom view.

[0038] Figure 7 for Figure 5 The right view.

[0039] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the heating component in one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 .

[0040] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the heating component in one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 .

[0041] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the heating control of the heating component in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] Figure 11 This is a structural diagram of a board-type chip. Detailed Implementation

[0043] like Figures 1-3As shown, in one embodiment of the present invention, the air transmission component 1 includes a U-shaped structure 1. An air groove 1-1 is provided inside the U-shaped structure 1. The U-shaped structure 1 includes a first straight section 1-2, a second straight section 1-3, and a connecting section 1-4. Both ends of the connecting section 1-4 are connected to the first straight section 1-2 and the second straight section 1-3, respectively. The air groove 1-1 is formed within the cavities of the first straight section 1-2, the second straight section 1-3, and the connecting section 1-4. An air inlet 2 communicating with the air groove 1-1 is fixed to the connecting section 1-4. A mounting groove 1-5 is formed on the upper surface of the first straight section 1-2. Multiple air outlet pipes 1-6 are formed penetrating the bottom of the mounting groove 1-5 and the lower sidewall of the first straight section 1-2. A transparent panel 1-7 is installed in the mounting groove 1-5. Multiple air outlet pipes 1-6 are formed on the upper sidewall of the second straight section 1-3, and each of the multiple air outlet pipes 1-6 communicates with the air groove 1-1. Both the first straight section 1-2 and the second straight section 1-3 have strip-shaped grooves 1-8 at their ends away from the connecting section 1-4, and the strip-shaped grooves 1-8 communicate with the air grooves 1-1; a temperature feedback probe 1-10 is installed between the first straight section 1-2 and the second straight section 1-3. The plate-type biochip is placed between the first straight section 1-2 and the second straight section 1-3, and the air outlet pipe 1-6 corresponds one-to-one with the microchambers on the front and back of the plate-type biochip that need to be heated.

[0044] like Figures 5-7 As shown, the air inlet 2 is designed as a cylinder, with equal distances from the air transmission component 1 on all sides. Its inlet section has an inner diameter of 4-6mm and an outer diameter of 8-10mm. It can also be designed as a pagoda shape. This design is mainly for connecting with the heating pipe 3. The length of the air inlet 2 is 10-25mm. This design is mainly to fix the pipe to the air trough and allow the air to fully develop in the inlet section, making the flow more stable.

[0045] like Figures 8-10 As shown, the present invention also discloses a heating assembly, including an air transmission component 1, and a heating pipe 3 connected to an air inlet 2. The heating pipe 3 is provided with a solenoid valve 4, and the other end of the heating pipe 3 is connected to an air pump.

[0046] The circulating heating of the present invention mainly includes the following steps:

[0047] 1) The exhaust pressure of the air pump is adjustable between 0-0.7 MPa, and the flow rate is adjustable between 0-100 L / min. During heating, the air pump is in a normally open state, and the airflow direction is controlled by solenoid valve 4. The temperature cycle designed in this invention has two temperatures: 95℃ and 60℃. In fact, with existing heating components, any temperature between room temperature and 150℃ can be achieved.

[0048] 2) The heating component has a total of 2 heating tubes 3. In fact, 3 or more heating tubes 3 can be added according to different needs. The principle remains the same. In this invention, one of the 2 heating tubes 3 is responsible for outputting hot air to stabilize the chip temperature at 95°C; the other tube is responsible for outputting hot air to stabilize the chip temperature at 60°C.

[0049] 3) such as Figure 10 As shown, the gas path switching between the two heat pipes is achieved by the opening and closing control of the solenoid valve 4. The solenoid valve 4 and the heating pipe 3 can work synchronously in terms of control. That is, after the solenoid valve 4 switches, the corresponding heating pipe 3 also turns on synchronously. The temperature control of the heating pipe 3 is controlled by the pressure regulating module 5 and PID parameters.

[0050] 4) Since the plate-type biochip 6 generally has more than 10 microchambers that need to be heated at the same time, the outlet of the air transmission component 1 is equipped with the same number of air outlet pipes 1-6, which are slightly larger than the diameter of the cylindrical microchamber by 0.1-1mm, corresponding one to one. This design can concentrate all the heat of the hot air on the microchamber that needs to be heated, so that the microchamber heating rate reaches the maximum and the detection efficiency is improved. This has been verified by CFD simulation calculation and experiment.

[0051] 5) Since the air transmission component 1 needs to be inspected from above, the hot air inlets can only be located on the side, see... Figure 1 To address the issue of temperature uniformity between different micro-chambers of the chip, a special variable cross-section design and strip grooves (1-8) were implemented for the internal flow channels of the air slot.

[0052] The slots 1-8 are located at the innermost part of the air transmission component 1, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the groove is about 19mm long and 1.5mm wide. Its purpose is to reduce the airflow vortex at the innermost side, so that the temperature of the innermost exhaust pipe 1-6 is closer to the temperature of the exhaust pipes 1-6 in the other rows. This design can greatly improve the temperature uniformity when different microchambers are heated.

[0053] The reason why vortices form in unslotted airflow is that there is backflow. That is, after the air enters the air slot, it flows to the innermost part, where it is obstructed and begins to change direction, interacting with newly entering air, eventually forming a vortex. This causes uneven temperature and velocity at the outlets of the air slots. Slotting allows the airflow entering the inner part to flow out through the slot opening, greatly reducing the generation of vortices.

[0054] Variable cross-section design, such as Figure 4As shown, the arrow indicates the airflow path, flowing from air inlet 2 on the right to air tank 1-1. Since the hot air enters the air tank from one side, it passes through columns 1, 2, 3, and 4 in sequence. If the same outlet design is used, the temperature and velocity of the hot air at the outlet of each column will be different due to heat and velocity loss during the flow. In order to solve the temperature difference between each column, a variable cross-section design is adopted to improve the temperature difference.

[0055] Figure 4 The dashed line in the middle is the central axis of the air outlet pipes 1-6. The length of the outlet pipes in each row of holes differs by 1-1.5mm. The specific value is related to various factors such as hole size and spatial distance. In actual design, the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) method is used to perform fluid-structure heat transfer coupling calculations to obtain the optimal parameters.

[0056] 6) Regarding the installation of the air tank and the plate-type biochip, Figure 11 The diagram shows the structure of a plate-type biochip. The 12 equally sized circular areas in the diagram are microchambers that require temperature cycling. Figure 8 , 9 The diagram shows the installation of the plate-type biochip and the air chamber. When heated, the plate-type biochip is suspended in the gap of the air chamber. The outlet end of the air outlet pipes 1-6 is about 0.5-1.5mm away from the outer wall of the micro-chamber, and the area where the micro-chamber is located is completely surrounded by the outlet area of ​​the air chamber.

[0057] The present invention proposes an air transmission component and heating assembly suitable for temperature cycling of board-type chips. The chip is heated by hot air heating. A certain gap is left between the hot air outlet and the chip, which avoids the requirement for the semiconductor cooling chip to be attached to the chip. At the same time, the flatness requirement of the chip surface is also relatively low.

[0058] In addition, in the chip heating section, the present invention designs an air groove with symmetrical upper and lower sections. By optimizing the flow channel inside the air groove, the hot air flow rate and temperature at the outlet of the air groove can be made basically consistent, which well ensures the uniformity of chip heating. Since it is air heating, it is only necessary to replace the cover plate on one side of the air groove with a transparent material that does not affect optical detection, so as to avoid the problem of uneven heating effect of semiconductor cooling chip without affecting optical detection.

Claims

1. An air delivery component for a biochip, characterized in that... The system includes a U-shaped structural component (1), which has an air groove (1-1) inside. The U-shaped structural component (1) includes a first straight section (1-2), a second straight section (1-3), and a connecting section (1-4) connected to the first straight section (1-2) and the second straight section (1-3). The connecting section (1-4) is fixed with an air inlet (2) communicating with the air groove (1-1). The upper surface of the first straight section (1-2) is provided with a mounting groove (1-5) that penetrates the air groove (1-1). Multiple air outlet pipes (1-6) are provided at the bottom of the mounting groove (1-5) and on the lower side wall of the first straight section (1-2). A transparent panel (1-7) is installed in the mounting groove (1-5). Multiple air outlet pipes (1-6) are provided on the upper side wall of the second straight section (1-3). A strip groove (1-8) is provided at the ends of the first straight section (1-2) and the second straight section (1-3) away from the connecting part (1-4). The strip groove (1-8) is connected to the air groove (1-1). The plate-type biochip is placed between the first straight section (1-2) and the second straight section (1-3), and the air outlet pipe (1-6) corresponds one-to-one with the micro-chambers that need to be heated on the front and back sides of the plate-type biochip.

2. The air transport component for a biochip according to claim 1, characterized in that, The length of the strip groove (1-8) is 15-25mm and the width is 0.5-1.5mm.

3. The air transport component for a biochip according to claim 1, characterized in that, The air trough (1-1) adopts a variable cross-section design, and the cross-section of the air trough (1-1) decreases sequentially from the air inlet (2) side to the air outlet (1-6) side.

4. The air transport component for a biochip according to claim 1, characterized in that, The length of the air outlet pipe (1-6) increases by 1-1.5 mm from the air inlet (2) side to the air outlet pipe (1-6) side.

5. The air transport component for a biochip according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The diameter of the air outlet pipe (1-6) is 0.1-1 mm larger than the diameter of the microchamber.

6. The air transport component for a biochip according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The air outlet pipes (1-6) are arranged in three rows, with four air outlet pipes (1-6) in each row.

7. The air transport component for a biochip according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The length of the air inlet (2) is 10-25 mm.

8. The air transport component for a biochip according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The end of the air outlet pipe (1-6) is 0.5-1.5 mm away from the plate-type biochip.

9. A heating component for a biochip, characterized in that, The air transmission component includes any one of claims 1-8, and further includes a heating tube (3) connected to the air inlet (2), the heating tube (3) being provided with a solenoid valve (4), the other end of the heating tube (3) being connected to an air pump, and the heating tube (3) being provided with a pressure regulating module (5).

10. The heating assembly for a biochip according to claim 9, characterized in that, The heating tube (3) is provided in two or more sets and is connected to the air inlet (2) through a connector.

11. A biochip comprising the heating component of claim 9 or 10.

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