212 results about "Digital microfluidics" patented technology

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.

A method of extracting hormones from a biological sample using digital microfluidic arrays is provided. Biological samples containing hormones are dried on a digital microfluidic array, lysed by a lysing solvent, dried, subsequently dissolved in a polar solvent, and further purified in an extraction step in which droplets are transported through a volume of non-polar solvent. The method disclosed herein provides the distinct advantage of an automated sample preparation method that is capable of extracting hormones from low sample volumes with excellent precision and recovery.

The invention is directed to a droplet actuator device and methods for integrating gel electrophoresis analysis with pre or post-analytical sample handling as well as other molecular analysis processes. Using digital microfluidics technology, the droplet actuator device and methods of the invention provide the ability to perform gel electrophoresis and liquid handling operations on a single integrated device. The integrated liquid handling operations may be used to prepare and deliver samples to the electrophoresis gel, capture and subsequently process products of the electrophoresis gel or perform additional assays on the same sample materials which are analyzed by gel electrophoresis. In one embodiment, one or more molecular assays, such as nucleic acid (e.g., DNA) quantification by real-time PCR, and one or more sample processing operations such as sample dilution is performed on a droplet actuator integrated with an electrophoresis gel. In one embodiment, an electrophoresis gel may be integrated on the top substrate of the droplet actuator.

A disposable cartridge had body, bottom layer with first hydrophobic surface, top layer with a second hydrophobic surface, and gap between. The bottom layer is a flexible film sealingly attached at its circumference to the top layer. No spacer is between the layers. The top layer has loading sites for transferring processing liquids into the gap. In use, the bottom layer is a working film for manipulating samples in liquid droplets and is placed on an electrode array of a digital microfluidics system having base unit with cartridge accommodation site and electrode array at the site. The electrode array is supported by a bottom substrate that extends in a first plane and has individual electrodes. The system also includes a central control unit for controlling selection of the electrodes and for providing these electrodes with individual voltage pulses for manipulating liquid droplets within the gap by electrowetting.

The invention belongs to the technical field of micro-fluidic analysis chips, and concretely relates to a nano-material electrode modification based electrochemical integrated digital micro-fluidic chip. The electrochemical integrated digital micro-fluidic chip treats a digital micro-fluidic chip as a base and integrates an electrochemical-sensing micro-electrode, an electrochemical electrode is embedded in the control electrode of the digital micro-fluidic chip, and all the electrodes are positioned in a same plane of the chip. The nano-material modification of the electrochemical sensing electrode is realized through the micro-fluidic automatic control in order to enhance the electrochemical sensing capability of the micro-fluidic chip. The nano-material electrode modification based electrochemical integrated digital micro-fluidic chip has the advantages of novel design, high integration level, convenient making, high automation degree, strong detection capability, realization of the micro-scale, rapid and sensitive detection, and substantial widening of the application ranges of the electrochemical sensing and digital micro-fluidic fields.

Digital microfluidics system manipulates samples in liquid droplets within disposable cartridges that have bottom layer, top layer, and gap between the bottom and top layers. The system has a base unit with cartridge accommodation sites and a central control unit for controlling selection of individual electrodes of electrode arrays and for providing these electrodes with individual voltage pulses for manipulating liquid droplets within the cartridges by electrowetting. The system further has board accommodation sites located at the cartridge accommodation sites that each can take up a swappable electrode board having an electrode array and electrical board contact elements individually connected to electrodes of the electrode array. Each board accommodation site has electrical base unit contact elements that are connected to the central control unit and that are configured to engage with the electrical board contact elements of a swappable electrode board that is placed at the board accommodation site.

The invention discloses a method of transporting liquid drops by a micro-fluidic chip. The method comprises following steps: step one, a micro-fluidic chip is provided, the micro-fluidic chip comprises array-arranged driving electrodes, the driving electrodes are in half-moon shapes, in the fluid drop transportation direction, one edge of each electrode is in a convex arc shape, the other edge of each electrode is in a concave arc shape, and the convex arc is opposite to the concave arc between two neighbored electrodes; step two, an electric potential between 32 V and 60 V is exerted between the neighbored driving electrodes to drive the liquid drops on the driving electrodes to move. The method of transporting liquid drops by a micro-fluidic chip aims to reduce the driving voltage of a digital micro-fluidic chip, so the electric field strength of the chip is reduced, damages to the biological activity organisms contained in the liquid drops are avoided, and the use efficiency of the digital micro-fluidic chip is improved at the same time.

Integrated devices that include a sample preparation component integrated with a detection component are disclosed. The sample preparation component may be a digital microfluidics module or a surface acoustic wave module which modules are used for combing a sample droplet with a reagent droplet and for performing additional sample preparation step leading to a droplet that contains beads/particles/labels that indicate presence or absence of an analyte of interest in the sample. The beads/particles/labels may be detected by moving the droplet to the detection component of the device, which detection component includes an array of wells. Additonal analyte detection devices configured to operate an analyte detection chip to prepare a test sample and to detect an analyte related signal from the prepared test sample in the analyte detection chip are disclosed. The analyte detection chip may include a digital microfluidics (DMF) region and an analyte detection region which may overlap or may be spatially separated. The analyte detection device may be configured for detection of analyte by an optical or electrochemical means operably connected with an analyte detection chip inserted into the device.

The invention belongs to the technical field of micro analysis, in particular to an electrochemical sensor chip based on the digital microfluidic technology. The sensor chip comprises a digital microfluidic device and a three-electrode electrochemical device, wherein the three-electrode electrochemical device is stacked on the digital microfluidic device; the digital microfluidic device comprises a bottom layer and an upper cover, wherein the bottom layer comprises a first substrate, a first insulating layer, a first electrode layer, a second insulating layer and a first drainage layer in sequence from bottom to top; the upper cover comprises a second drainage layer, a second electrode layer, a third insulating layer and a second substrate in sequence from bottom to top; when the first substrate and the second substrate are made of insulating materials, the first insulating layer and the third insulating layer are dispensed; three electrodes include a counter electrode, a working electrode and a reference electrode; and the three electrodes and the first drainage layer are positioned on the same plane and surrounded but not covered by the first drainage layer. The electrochemical sensor chip can realize the delivery and the online detection of various required liquid samples.

The invention discloses an electrowetting-based microfluidic liquid droplet positioning system comprising an electrowetting unit, a microprocessor, a master control module, a droplet driver module, a droplet positioning module and a power supply. The method includes: the system uses a to-be-measured droplet in the electrowetting unit and a hydrophobic insulation layer below the droplet as capacitors in series connection; a master control chip sends out a command to the droplet driver module, and the droplet driver module drives the to-be-measured droplet to move; the droplet positioning module collects a current capacitance value of the droplet and determines the relative position of the droplet; and the system checks whether the droplet is at a target position. With the high-intelligence high-precision droplet motion positioning feedback system and method, droplet positioning and controlling can be carried out visually and directly; the operation becomes conveniently; and the efficiency is high. Continuity and motion speed of droplet movement can be improved. The system and method can be applied to the field of the digital microfluidic technology.

The invention discloses a full-automatic single particle/single cell capturing chip based on a digital microfluids technique and application thereof. The full-automatic single particle/single cell capturing chip comprises a digital microfluids chip with multiple pattern layers and an integrated circuit, wherein the digital microfluids chip with multiple pattern layers consists of an upper electrode plate and a lower electrode plate; the upper electrode plate adopts lyophobic conductive glass as a ground electrode; the integrated circuit is used as a digital microfluids circuit control system.The full-automatic single particle/single cell capturing chip has the advantages that the single particles/single cells can be fully automatically captured, the operation is simple and quick, and thecapturing efficiency is high; a sample can be recycled without damage, and the capturing chip is especially suitable for rare samples; the continuous and complicated parallel operation of the capturing unit is realized by program control, and the crossing pollution is avoided; the capturing chip can be widely applied to the fields of detection of single particles and analysis of single cells, suchas isolation, coupling and detection of single particles, and isolation, culture and nucleic acid amplification of single cells.

The invention belongs to the digital microfluidic technical field and particularly relates to a single-sided two-dimensional driving digital microfluidic chip based on electrowetting. The chip is of the single-sided electrode plate structure, strip driving electrodes and a strip ground electrode are integrated on the same single-sided electrode plate, the ground electrode can be integrated on the driving electrodes or in the electrode gap of the driving electrodes, liquid drops are driven on the monopolar plate, the upper electrode plate is not essential and the real single-sided two-dimensional driving chip is realized. By adopting the single-sided two-dimensional driving digital microfluidic chip based on electrowetting, the drive performance and functional integration of the microfluidic chip can be greatly increased and the application range of the digital microfluidic field can be amplified.

The present invention provides an exchangeable, reagent pre-loaded sheets which can be temporarily applied to an electrode array on a digital microfluidic device (DMF). The substrate facilitates virtually un-limited re-use of the DMF devices avoiding cross-contamination on the electrode array itself, as well as enabling rapid exchange of pre-loaded reagents while bridging the world-to-chip interface of DMF devices. The present invention allows for the transformation of DMF into a versatile platform for lab-on-a-chip applications.

Digital microfluidic (DMF) methods and apparatuses (including devices, systems, cartridges, DMF readers, etc.), and in particular DMF apparatuses and methods adapted for large volume. For example, described herein are methods and apparatuses for DMF using an air gap having a width of the gap that may be between 0.3 mm and 3 mm. Also described herein are DMF readers for use with a DMF cartridges, including those adapted for use with large air gap/large volume, although smaller volumes may be used as well.

The invention discloses a fluorescence liquid drop sorting system based on digital microfluidics and a sorting method thereof. The fluorescence liquid drop sorting system comprises a digital microfluidic chip, an integrated circuit and a fluorescence excitation and acquisition module. The digital microfluidic chip is connected with the integrated circuit; and the fluorescence excitation and acquisition module is connected with the digital microfluidic chip and the integrated circuit respectively. According to the fluorescence liquid drop sorting system based on the digital microfluidics, disclosed by the invention, generation, transportation and sorting processes of liquid drops are carried out based on an on-chip dielectric wetting principle, so that a realization mechanism of the third party does not need to be added and the miniaturization of the system is relatively easy to realize; and single liquid drops are manipulated and analyzed in the processes, and a biochemical staining and fluorescence protein marking technology is combined, so that the fluorescence liquid drop sorting system can be used for detecting and sorting single cells, secreted proteins or microorganisms, and is used for the fields of early-stage disease diagnosis and treatment and the like.

The invention belongs to the technical field of digital micro-fluidics, and in particular relates to a liquid drop mixing unit based on an electro-wetting digital micro-fluid chip. The mixing unit comprises three parts consisting of an inlet zone, a mixing zone and an outlet zone; the fast, high-efficiency, automatic and reliable mixing of the liquid drops can be realized via the special bidirectional driving electrode and closed-loop electrode arrangement and simplified electrode connection mode. The liquid drop mixing unit has the advantages of novel design, easiness in control, high reliability, excellent practicability, high automation degree, and the like, so that the liquid drop mixing unit can be widely used in various digital micro-fluid chips.