Digital microfluidic driving system

Abstract

Compared with the prior art, the utility model discloses a digital micro-fluidic driving system, which has the following beneficial effects: through mutual cooperation of a main control unit, a high-voltage output unit, a detection unit, an adapter, an array, a distributor and a concentrator, synchronous and asynchronous driving of various types of digital micro-fluidic chips can be realized; the complexity of liquid drop motion planning of the system is increased; chip adaptation is completed by synchronously updating a chip driving electrode array, a connection relation between chip driving electrodes and signal output channels and a channel address grouping result, complex droplet operations of different chips are cooperatively operated through one system, the cost is saved, and the process is simplified; the liquid drops on the chip are subjected to double constraint through the adjacency relation of the electrodes and the addresses of the signal channels, the global optimal liquid drop movement path can be obtained, the liquid drop movement efficiency is guaranteed, and the fault-tolerant capability of controlling the liquid drops can be enhanced under the scene of high flux and multi-liquid drop path coupling.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model belongs to the technical field of digital microfluidics, and particularly relates to a digital microfluidic driving system. Background Art

[0002] Digital microfluidics (DMF) technology is a new type of droplet manipulation technology that uses electrical signals as the driving means to independently manipulate discrete droplets, and can realize operations such as dispensing, moving, merging, and splitting of droplets from microliters to picoliters; due to its significant advantages in processing liquid samples, digital microfluidics technology provides a new technical means for research such as chemical synthesis, biological analysis, and drug screening, and has been rapidly applied to fields such as point-of-care testing, clinical diagnosis, and rapid food testing. In today's domestic and international markets, digital microfluidics technology is still in the transition stage from early exploration to rapid development, and there is still a large gap from large-scale market applications. The reasons restricting the large-scale market application of digital microfluidics technology are complex, but from the perspectives of use universality and efficiency, they can be summarized as some technical bottleneck problems that have not been effectively solved, specifically including:

[0003] (1) Difficulty in chip compatibility

[0004] Existing DMF driving systems have a single type of chip connector, and the chip connector is directly physically connected to the driving circuit board, and can only drive specific types of DMF chips, and cannot be compatible with diverse digital microfluidic chips with different chip interfaces and chip sizes, especially DMF chips from different manufacturers; in other words, when users use diverse detections based on digital microfluidics, they need to correspondingly equip multiple sets of driving systems adapted to DMF chips, which not only increases the use costs of users and enterprises, but also restricts the development of digital microfluidics technology.

[0005] (2) Chip throughput limitation

[0006] There are obvious differences in the detection throughput requirements for digital microfluidic systems in a wide range of application scenarios. For high-throughput droplet operations, improving the high-throughput chips of a single chip is a feasible solution, but this solution will cause the entire chip to be scrapped when the chip is partially damaged, and at the same time, this method cannot balance the relationship between flexibly adjusting the droplet operation throughput and the efficient utilization of the chip; side-by-side complementary splicing of the electrode plates of digital microfluidic chips (patent number: 202010062040.4) is an effective way to achieve flexible expansion of throughput, but parallel complementary splicing has high requirements for the flatness of the two chips, the size of the splicing gap, and the cleanliness during the splicing process, and it is easy for droplets and the internal filling liquid of the chip to leak at the splicing gap.

[0007] Therefore, how to design a DMF driving system that can be compatible with and expand various types of DMF chips for diverse digital microfluidic application scenarios is an urgent problem to be solved in the current digital microfluidics field. Summary of the Invention

[0008] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a digital microfluidic driving system for existing problems.

[0009] An embodiment of the present application provides a digital microfluidic driving system, including a host computer, a main control unit, a high-voltage output unit, a detection unit, a first microfluidic module, a second microfluidic module, and a third microfluidic module;

[0010] The first input end of the main control unit is connected to the output end of the host computer, the second input end of the main control unit is connected to the output end of the detection unit, and the output end of the main control unit is connected to the input end of the high-voltage output unit;

[0011] The first output end of the high-voltage output unit is connected to the input end of the first digital microfluidic module, the second output end of the high-voltage output unit is connected to the input end of the second digital microfluidic module, and the third output end of the high-voltage output unit is connected to the input end of the third digital microfluidic module;

[0012] The output ends of the first digital microfluidic module, the second digital microfluidic module, and the third digital microfluidic module are all connected to the input end of the detection unit;

[0013] The first digital microfluidic module includes a first adapter, a first digital microfluidic chip, a hub, a second adapter, and a second digital microfluidic chip;

[0014] The second digital microfluidic module includes a first adapter array and a first digital microfluidic chip array;

[0015] The third digital microfluidic module includes a distributor, a second adapter array, and a second digital microfluidic chip array;

[0016] Among them, the main control unit controls the output signal of the high-voltage output unit, so that the first microfluidic module, the second microfluidic module, and / or the third microfluidic module work simultaneously or non-simultaneously.

[0017] Preferably, the first digital microfluidic chip array includes n first-type digital microfluidic chips of the same type; the first adapter array includes n first-type adapters corresponding to the n first-type digital microfluidic chips of the same type;

[0018] Each of the first-type adapters is connected in parallel with its corresponding third digital microfluidic chip.

[0019] Preferably, the second digital microfluidic chip array includes n different types of digital microfluidic chips;

[0020] The second adapter array includes n second - type adapters corresponding to the n different types of digital microfluidic chips;

[0021] Each of the second - type adapters is connected in parallel with its corresponding digital microfluidic chip.

[0022] Preferably, the high - voltage output unit includes a high - voltage output channel and a high - voltage control switch;

[0023] The high - voltage output channel is respectively connected to the first adapter, the first adapter array, and the second adapter array to provide a driving voltage for the movement of droplets on all the digital microfluidic chips that are working among the first digital microfluidic chip, the second digital microfluidic chip, the first digital microfluidic chip array, and the second digital microfluidic chip array;

[0024] The high - voltage control switch is connected to the main control unit to receive the control signal of the main control unit.

[0025] Preferably, the main control unit controls the high - voltage output channels corresponding to the first adapter, the first adapter array, and / or the second adapter array to perform channel address configuration.

[0026] Preferably, according to the electrode adjacency relationship in the chip driving electrode array of all the working digital flow - control chips of the first digital microfluidic module, the second digital microfluidic module, and / or the third digital microfluidic module and the channel address grouping result of the output signal channels of the high - voltage output unit, motion planning is performed on the droplets on all the working digital flow - control chips.

[0027] Preferably, the channel address grouping result is obtained by grouping the channel addresses of the output signal channels of the high - voltage output unit according to the electrode adjacency relationship.

[0028] Preferably, the electrode adjacency relationship is determined by current pulses, capacitance, visual signals, or acoustic signals caused by the movement of droplets on the corresponding driving electrodes.

[0029] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution disclosed by the present utility model has the following beneficial effects:

[0030] (1) In the technical solution of the present utility model, through the mutual cooperation of the main control unit, the high - voltage output unit, the detection unit, the adapter and the array, the distributor, and the hub, synchronous driving and asynchronous driving of multiple types of digital microfluidic chips can be realized, increasing the complexity of droplet motion planning in the digital microfluidic system;

[0031] (2) The present utility model completes the adaptation of the system chip by synchronously updating the chip driving electrode array, the connection relationship between the chip driving electrode and the signal output channel, and the channel address grouping result fed back by the adapter. Complex droplet operations on multiple digital microfluidic chips can be coordinated and run by a single system driver, greatly saving costs and simplifying the control process;

[0032] (3) By imposing double - condition constraints on the droplets on the microfluidic chip through a reasonable electrode adjacency relationship and the channel address of the output signal channel, a globally optimal droplet movement path can be obtained, which not only ensures the droplet movement efficiency but also enhances the fault - tolerance ability of the chip to manipulate droplets in scenarios of high throughput and multi - droplet path coupling. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] By referring to the following drawings, the exemplary embodiments of the present utility model can be more completely understood. The drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present application and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present application, they are used to explain the present utility model and do not constitute a limitation to the present utility model. In the drawings, the same reference numerals generally represent the same components or steps.

[0034] Figure 1 FIG. [0000076] is a schematic structural diagram of a digital microfluidic driving system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 2 FIG. [0000079] is a schematic structural diagram of a second digital microfluidic module of a digital microfluidic driving system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 3 FIG. [0000082] is a schematic structural diagram of a third digital microfluidic module of a digital microfluidic driving system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 4 FIG. [0000085] shows the types of conflict points of droplet movement according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 5 FIG. [0000088] shows the droplet movement constraint conditions according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0039] The following will describe the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure in more detail with reference to the drawings. Although the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure can be more thoroughly understood and the scope of the present disclosure can be fully communicated to those skilled in the art.

[0040] In the description of the present utility model, it should be noted that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present utility model and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be construed as a limitation to the present utility model. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0041] In the description of the present utility model, it should be noted that unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected to" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it can be the communication inside two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present utility model can be understood according to specific situations.

[0042] In addition, the technical features involved in different embodiments of the present utility model described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0043] The embodiment of the present application provides a digital microfluidic driving system, which will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0044] Refer to Figure 1 , which shows a digital microfluidic driving system provided by some embodiments of the present application, including a host computer 1, a main control unit 2, a high-voltage output unit 3, a first digital microfluidic module 4, a second digital microfluidic module 5, a third digital microfluidic module 6, and a detection unit 7.

[0045] In the present utility model, it is necessary to adapt the chips of the system. The process of loading different chip adaptation files is as follows: the driving electrodes on the chip are connected to the contact electrodes, and the contact electrodes are connected to the host driving channels; each electrode of the chip driving electrode array corresponds to a host driving channel; a file with the pattern of the chip driving electrode array and the numbering information of the electrodes and the host driving channels is loaded into the host computer; the driving adaptation of the new chip by the system is completed (that is, when the driving electrode on the interface of the host computer is clicked, the driving electrode at the corresponding position of the chip in kind is powered on and driven), and the type of the digital microfluidic chip can be selected according to the needs of the system.

[0046] Among them, the first input end of the main control unit 2 is connected to the output end of the host computer 1, the second input end of the main control unit 2 is connected to the output end of the detection unit 7, and the output end of the main control unit 2 is connected to the input end of the high-voltage output unit 3; the first output end of the high-voltage output unit 3 is connected to the input end of the first digital microfluidic module 4, the second output end of the high-voltage output unit is connected to the input end of the second digital microfluidic module 5, and the third output end of the high-voltage output unit 3 is connected to the input end of the third digital microfluidic module 6; the output ends of the first digital microfluidic module 4, the second digital microfluidic module 5, and the third digital microfluidic module 6 are all connected to the input end of the detection unit 7.

[0047] Specifically, the first digital microfluidic module 4 includes a first adapter 41, a first digital microfluidic chip 44, a hub 42, a second adapter 43, and a second digital microfluidic chip 45. The first digital microfluidic chip 44 and the second digital microfluidic chip 45 can be of the same type or different types.

[0048] Specifically, the second digital microfluidic module 5 includes a first adapter array 51 and a first digital microfluidic chip array 52.

[0049] See Figure 2 , the first digital microfluidic chip array 52 of this embodiment includes n first-type digital microfluidic chips 521 of the same type; the first adapter array 51 includes n first-type adapters 511 corresponding to the n first-type digital microfluidic chips 521 of the same type; each first-type adapter 511 is connected in parallel with its corresponding third digital microfluidic chip 521.

[0050] Specifically, see Figure 3 , the third digital microfluidic module 6 includes a dispenser 61, a second adapter array 62, and a second digital microfluidic chip array 63.

[0051] See Figure 3 , the second digital microfluidic chip array 63 of this embodiment includes n different types of digital microfluidic chips, namely the third digital microfluidic chip 631, the fourth digital microfluidic chip 632... the (n + 2)th digital microfluidic chip 63n; the second adapter array 62 includes n adapters corresponding to the n different types of digital microfluidic chips, namely the third adapter 621, the fourth adapter 622... the (n + 2)th adapter 62n; each second-type adapter is connected in parallel with its corresponding digital microfluidic chip.

[0052] In this embodiment, the output signal of the high-voltage output unit 3 is controlled by the main control unit 2, so that the first microfluidic module 4, the second microfluidic module 5, and / or the third microfluidic module 6 work simultaneously or non-simultaneously.

[0053] Specifically, digital microfluidic chips of multiple types differ in the chip electrode arrays, structures, and shape dimensions. Optionally, the chip electrode arrays of digital microfluidic chips of multiple types include a chip contact electrode array, a chip driving electrode array, and a chip ground electrode array. The chip driving electrode and the chip ground electrode are respectively connected to the chip contact electrode. The differences in the chip electrode arrays of digital microfluidic chips of multiple types lie in the electrode shape dimensions, the number of arrays, and the arrangements.

[0054] The structures of digital microfluidic chips of multiple types in this embodiment include a single-board structure, a double-board structure, and a single-double hybrid board structure. The digital microfluidic chip with a single-board structure has only one bottom board for carrying the chip electrode array, and the droplets thereon are directly exposed to the external environment. The digital microfluidic chip with a double-board structure includes two upper and lower plates for carrying the electrode array and a support gasket separating the upper and lower plates. A material immiscible with the droplets such as air or filling oil is used as the medium between them. The driving droplets are wrapped between the two flat plates to form a "sandwich" structure, and its chip driving electrode array is located between the upper and lower plates. The single-double hybrid board digital microfluidic chip also includes two upper and lower plates and a support gasket separating the upper and lower plates. The difference from the double-board digital microfluidic chip is that only a part of the chip driving electrode array of the single-double hybrid board digital microfluidic chip is located between the upper and lower plates, and the other part of the chip driving electrode array is exposed to the external environment, which is the same as that of the single-board digital microfluidic chip.

[0055] Specifically, the adapter in this embodiment includes an adapter contact array and an adapter incoming line terminal. The adapter contact array is consistent with the chip contact electrode array of the digital microfluidic chip it adapts to. The chip contact electrodes of the digital microfluidic chip are connected to the wiring pins in the adapter incoming line terminal through the adapter contacts one by one. For example, the incoming line terminal of the first adapter 41 is connected to the high-voltage output unit 3.

[0056] Specifically, the hub 42 in this embodiment includes a hub contact array and a hub outgoing line terminal. The incoming line terminal of the second adapter 43 is connected to the contact electrode array of the hub 42 via the outgoing line terminal of the hub 42. The contact array of the hub 42 is connected to the contact array of the first adapter 41 one by one. Furthermore, different types of chip adaptations are completed through the series connection of the adapters, and at the same time, the digital microfluidic chip is extended to the outside of the host to complete micro-droplet operations, which is convenient for the combination of the digital microfluidic system with standard instruments such as mass spectrometers, Raman spectrometers, microscopes, and spectrometers.

[0057] Specifically, the dispenser 61 of this embodiment includes a channel expansion unit, a channel address encoding unit, a dispenser output channel, and a connection detection unit. Among them, the output channel expansion unit is connected to the drive circuit to expand the control channel array of the high-voltage output unit 3, so that the channel address encoding unit configures an independent channel address for each expanded channel. The dispenser output channel array connected to the output detection unit is connected to each adapter input terminal of the second adapter array 62. Based on the connection signal between the dispenser 61 output channel and the adapter terminal detected by the connection detection unit within the preset threshold time, the dispenser 61 groups the output channel addresses of the connected channels, and the grouped channel addresses are fed back to the main control unit 2 and the host computer 1 for motion planning of the asynchronous paths of droplets on different digital microfluidic chips.

[0058] Specifically, the high-voltage output unit 3 includes a high-voltage output channel and a high-voltage control switch. Among them, the high-voltage output channels are respectively connected to the first adapter 41, the first adapter array 51, and the second adapter array 62 to provide a driving voltage for the movement of droplets on all working digital microfluidic chips of the first digital microfluidic chip 44, the second digital microfluidic chip 45, the first digital microfluidic chip array 52, and the second digital microfluidic chip array 63. Its specific operation is achieved by modulating the amplitude and frequency of the driving voltage.

[0059] Specifically, in the drive system, the host computer 1 performs operations such as droplet path planning, signal processing, and system settings for all working chips. For newly physically connected and adapted digital microfluidic chips, the host computer needs to synchronously update the chip drive electrode array, the connection relationship between the chip drive electrode and the high-voltage output channel, and the channel address grouping result fed back by the dispenser to complete system chip adaptation.

[0060] The drive system of this embodiment can realize the coordinated operation of droplet operations on multiple digital microfluidic chips under the drive of the same host, increasing the complexity of droplet motion planning in the digital microfluidic system, and being able to enhance the fault tolerance of the chip to manipulate droplets and perform autonomous droplet path planning.

[0061] Specifically, the detection unit 7 is connected to the host computer 1 and the main control unit 2; the position of the droplet is detected through current pulses, capacitance, visual signals, or acoustic signals, and the detection signals are fed back to the host computer 1 or the main control unit 2.

[0062] Specifically, the driving principle for specifically executing droplet movement in the drive system of this embodiment is as follows:

[0063] (1) Chip adaptation is performed on each digital microfluidic chip of the first digital microfluidic module, the second digital microfluidic module, and / or the third digital microfluidic module, and the electrode adjacency relationship in the chip drive electrode array of all working digital fluidic chips of the first digital microfluidic module, the second digital microfluidic module, and / or the third digital microfluidic module is updated;

[0064] Specifically, before the detection drive, chip adaptation of the system needs to be performed. Taking the first microfluidic module 4 as an example, first connect the adapter 61 to the hub 42 to gather the control channel array of the high-voltage output unit 3 to the hub 42 and the output terminal; then, the output terminal of the hub 42 is connected to a replaceable adapter to re-array the control channels of the high-voltage output unit 3 to adapt to the digital microfluidic chip type. The type of digital microfluidic chip can be selected according to the system requirements. The adaptation processes of the second digital microfluidic module 5 and the third digital microfluidic module are similar to that of the first microfluidic module 4.

[0065] Specifically, according to the design of the drive system, the present utility model is not only applicable to the synchronous parallel drive of the same digital microfluidic chips, but more applicable to the parallel asynchronous drive of different types of digital microfluidic chips.

[0066] Specifically, the electrode adjacency relationship is determined by current pulses, capacitance, visual signals, or acoustic signals caused by the movement of droplets on the corresponding drive electrodes. Specifically, the above parameters of the droplets between different electrodes are different. When the droplet moves from its current position to the next position, it can only move to the adjacent four electrodes, and cannot move to the diagonal position or cross electrodes. For example, for the coordinates of two different electrodes (x 0 , y 0 ) and (x 1 , y 1 ), its specific constraint conditions are as shown in formula (1):

[0067]

[0068] (2) Group the channel addresses of the output signal channels of the high-voltage output unit according to the electrode adjacency relationship;

[0069] (3) Perform motion planning on the droplets on all working digital fluidic chips of the first digital microfluidic module, the second digital microfluidic module, and / or the third digital microfluidic module according to the electrode adjacency relationship and the channel address grouping result.

[0070] Specifically, the electrode adjacency relationship of all electrodes in the chip driving electrode array is used as the basic constraint condition for the droplet movement planning of all working digital microfluidic chips of the first digital microfluidic module 4, the second digital microfluidic module 5, and / or the third digital microfluidic module 6, and the channel address grouping result is used as the movement planning condition for the droplet movement planning;

[0071] According to the basic constraint condition and the movement planning condition, the movement planning of droplets on all working digital microfluidic chips is synchronously carried out. The specific process includes:

[0072] Based on the artificial potential field method, the droplets on all used working digital microfluidic chips are controlled;

[0073] When there are movement conflict droplets on a microfluidic chip, the movement of the movement conflict droplets on the microfluidic chip is re-planned by splitting the conflict domain.

[0074] Preferably, controlling the droplets on each digital microfluidic chip of the digital microfluidic chip array based on the artificial potential field method includes:

[0075] Controlling the droplet to move to the target electrode along the minimum path through the virtual suction force field of the electrode of each digital microfluidic chip under the current signal.

[0076] When there are movement conflict droplets on a microfluidic chip, the movement of the movement conflict droplets on the microfluidic chip is re-planned by splitting the conflict domain.

[0077] See Figure 4 , which gives the types of movement conflict droplets. When the movement conflict droplets belong to the conflict point type, different movement time delays are added to the movement conflict droplets before the droplets reach the conflict point, so that the movement conflict droplets reach the corresponding conflict electrodes with staggered peaks; when the movement conflict droplets belong to the reverse edge conflict and faulty electrode types, repulsive forces and taboo constraint conditions are added to the movement conflict droplets, so that the positions of the movement conflict droplets are not adjacent.

[0078] Considering that the chip may malfunction, it is necessary to perform an on-line test on the chip. If two droplets fuse due to direct adjacency or diagonal adjacency, it will interfere with the normal experiment. In order to avoid conflicts between two droplets, it is necessary to consider the fluid constraints between different droplets. The specific constraint process is as follows:

[0079] Let be the row and column where droplet 1 is located at time t, and let be the row and column where droplet 2 is located at time t. Then the two droplets need to satisfy two constraint conditions at the same time and at different times:

[0080] (1) Constraint at the same time

[0081] Or That is, at the same moment, the positions of the chip electrodes where the two droplets are located differ by at least two rows or two columns or more, which ensures that the droplets will not fuse due to being adjacent or diagonal. As Figure 5 described Figure 5 in (a), the x position is the taboo constraint position around the droplet A.

[0082] (2) Constraints at different times

[0083] Or Even during the movement of the droplets, they will not fuse due to being adjacent, ensuring that the position of droplet A at the current moment is not adjacent to the position of droplet B at the previous or next moment. Figure 5 In (b), the droplet B will move downward, and the x position is the taboo constraint position where the other droplets cannot reach due to the next moving position of droplet B.

[0084] At the same time, when a droplet deviates from the predetermined trajectory, a lost step driving instruction is repeatedly sent to the droplet. If it still fails to pass, the front driving electrode is marked as a faulty electrode, and at the same time, a new motion plan is made for the droplet; the specific process of determining that the droplet deviates from the predetermined trajectory is as follows:

[0085] At time t1, the droplet is located at the electrode (X1, Y1). At time t2, the droplet is located at the electrode (X2, Y2). At time t3, the droplet is located at the electrode (X3, Y3); (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), (X3, Y3)... (Xt, Yt) is the droplet movement path obtained in the motion plan; the capacitance values on (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), (X3, Y3)... (Xt, Yt) are detected in real time; when the droplet passes through and causes a change in the capacitance C(Xt, Yt) on the corresponding electrode (Xt, Yt), the position of the droplet is determined by this change. For example, at time t2, according to the motion plan, the droplet should be located at the electrode (X2, Y2); if C(X2, Y2) changes at this time, the droplet moves along the predetermined trajectory; if C(X2, Y2) does not change, the droplet deviates from the predetermined trajectory.

[0086] In this embodiment, the channel address grouping result is used as one of the motion planning conditions because a droplet cannot move across chips at the same time, and the droplet motion planning method for each chip is the same as the above global motion planning method.

[0087] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution disclosed by the present utility model has the following beneficial effects:

[0088] (1) The technical solution of the present utility model can realize the synchronous driving and asynchronous driving of various types of digital microfluidic chips through the mutual cooperation of the main control unit, high-voltage output unit, detection unit, adapter and array, distributor, and hub, increasing the complexity of droplet motion planning in the digital microfluidic system;

[0089] (2) The present utility model completes the adaptation of the system chips by synchronously updating the chip drive electrode array, the connection relationship between the chip drive electrodes and the signal output channels, and the channel address grouping results fed back by the adapter. Complex droplet operations on multiple digital microfluidic chips can be coordinated and run through a system drive, greatly saving costs and simplifying the control process;

[0090] (3) By reasonably imposing double conditional constraints on the droplet on the microfluidic chip through the electrode adjacency relationship and the channel address of the output signal channel, a globally optimal droplet motion path can be obtained, not only ensuring the droplet motion efficiency, but also enhancing the fault tolerance of the chip to manipulate droplets in scenarios of high throughput and multi-droplet path coupling.

[0091] It can be understood that the same or similar parts in the above embodiments can be referred to each other, and the content not detailed in some embodiments can be seen in the same or similar content of other embodiments.

[0092] It should be noted that in the description of the present utility model, the terms "first", "second", etc. are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance. In addition, in the description of the present utility model, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "multiple" refers to at least two.

[0093] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to terms such as "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" means that the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present utility model. In this specification, the schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described can be combined in a suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0094] Although the embodiments of the present utility model have been shown and described above, it can be understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and cannot be understood as limiting the present utility model. Those of ordinary skill in the art can make changes, modifications, substitutions, and variations to the above embodiments within the scope of the present utility model.

Claims

1. A digital microfluidic drive system, characterized in that: It includes a host computer, a main control unit, a high-voltage output unit, a detection unit, a first microfluidic module, a second microfluidic module and a third microfluidic module; The first input end of the main control unit is connected to the output end of the host computer, the second input end of the main control unit is connected to the output end of the detection unit, and the output end of the main control unit is connected to the input end of the high-voltage output unit; The first output end of the high-voltage output unit is connected to the input end of the first digital microfluidic module, the second output end of the high-voltage output unit is connected to the input end of the second digital microfluidic module, and the third output end of the high-voltage output unit is connected to the input end of the third digital microfluidic module; The output end of the first digital microfluidic module, the output end of the second digital microfluidic module and the output end of the third digital microfluidic module are all connected to the input end of the detection unit; A first digital microfluidic module, comprising a first adapter, a first digital microfluidic chip, a hub, a second adapter, and a second digital microfluidic chip; A second digital microfluidic module, comprising a first adapter array and a first digital microfluidic chip array; A third digital microfluidic module, comprising a distributor, a second adapter array, and a second digital microfluidic chip array; The output signal of the high-voltage output unit is controlled by the main control unit so that the first microfluidic module, the second microfluidic module and / or the third microfluidic module work simultaneously or at different times.

2. A digital microfluidic drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first digital microfluidic chip array comprises n first-type digital microfluidic chips of the same type; the first adapter array comprises n first-type adapters corresponding to the n first digital microfluidic chips of the same type; Each of the first-type adapters is connected in parallel with its corresponding first digital microfluidic chip.

3. A digital microfluidic drive system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The second digital microfluidic chip array comprises n digital microfluidic chips of different types; The second adapter array comprises n second-type adapters corresponding to the n different types of digital microfluidic chips; Each of the second-type adapters is connected in parallel with its corresponding digital microfluidic chip.

4. A digital microfluidic drive system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The high voltage output unit includes a high voltage output channel and a high voltage control switch; The high-voltage output channel is respectively connected to the first adapter, the first adapter array, and the second adapter array to provide driving voltage for the droplet operation on all working digital microfluidic chips of the first digital microfluidic chip, the second digital microfluidic chip, the first digital microfluidic chip array, and the second digital microfluidic chip array; The high voltage control switch is connected to the main control unit to receive a control signal from the main control unit.

5. A digital microfluidic drive system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The main control unit controls the high-voltage output channels correspondingly connected to the first adapter, the first adapter array and / or the second adapter array to perform channel address configuration.

6. A digital microfluidic drive system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The motion planning of the droplets on all the working digital fluidic chips is performed according to the electrode adjacency relationship in the chip driving electrode array of all the working digital fluidic chips of the first digital microfluidic module, the second digital microfluidic module and / or the third digital microfluidic module and the channel address grouping results of the output signal channel of the high-voltage output unit.

7. A digital microfluidic drive system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The channel address grouping result is obtained by grouping the channel addresses of the output signal channels of the high-voltage output unit according to the electrode adjacency relationship.

8. A digital microfluidic drive system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The electrode adjacency relationship is determined by current pulses, capacitance, visual signals or acoustic signals caused by the movement of the droplet on the corresponding driving electrode.

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